Joe Hughes (boxer)

Joe Hughes (born 6 August 1990) is an English professional boxer who was born with Erb's palsy. He held the European light-welterweight title from 2018 to 2019 and challenged twice for the same title, along with two attempts at the British light-welterweight title between 2017 and 2019.

Joe Hughes
Statistics
Weight(s)	Light-welterweight
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Reach	61 ^1⁄2 in (156 cm)[2]
Nationality	English
Born	6 August 1990 Bath, Somerset, England[3]
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record[4]
Total fights	24
Wins	17
Wins by KO	7
Losses	6
Draws	1

Early life

Joe Hughes was born on 6 August 1990 in Bath, Somerset, and grew up in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.[3] He developed Erb's palsy after suffering a dislocated shoulder during birth, a condition which causes paralysis due to damaged nerves. Due to the condition his right arm failed to develop properly and is three inches shorter than his left. Doctors told his parents that he would never be able to run in a straight line, have a manual job or participate in contact sports.

His introduction to combat sports came through taekwondo around the age of five. His father took him to lessons as an alternative to physiotherapy for his shoulder, with Hughes stating in an interview with BBC Sports, "Since I was born I had to do physiotherapy on it and obviously when you're a child you don't want to do those standard exercises, it's boring for a child." He first got into boxing three years later after his father took him to the Malmesbury Amateur Boxing Club at the age of eight.[5]

Professional career

Early career

Hughes made his professional debut on 16 October 2010, scoring a six-round points decision (PTS) victory over Jason Carr at the Troxy in London.[6] After three more wins, two by stoppage, he suffered the first defeat of his career against Joe Elfidh in March 2012, losing by PTS over six rounds.[7]

Following defeat he secured four more wins, one by stoppage, before facing Kristian Dochev for the vacant International Masters light-welterweight title on 5 April 2014 at The Forum in Bath. Hughes captured his first professional title, defeating Dochev via PTS over ten rounds.[8] In his next fight he defeated future Commonwealth light-welterweight champion, Philip Bowes, on 11 October 2014 at The O2 Arena in London, capturing the vacant Southern Arena light-welterweight title with a technical knockout (TKO) in the tenth and final round.[9] In his next bout he fought for a regional IBO title, defeating Jaba Shalutashvili on 18 April 2015 at the Whitchurch Sports Centre in Bristol, capturing the vacant IBO International light-welterweight title via eighth-round TKO.[10]

English title

Following his win over Shalutashvili, Hughes was scheduled to face Ryan Taylor for the vacant English light-welterweight title. However, after Taylor suffered a stoppage defeat earlier in the month he was handed an automatic suspension, prompting Anthony Hardy to be drafted in as a replacement. The bout took place on 18 July 2015 at the Bath Pavilion in Bath,[11] with Hughes emerging victorious via ten-round split decision (SD) to capture his fourth professional title in as many fights. Two judges scored the bout 98–92 in favour of Hughes while the third scored it 97–95 to Hardy.[12] After a TKO win in a non-title fight against Tomas Bartunek in October,[13] Hughes successfully defended his English title on 5 December, defeating Anthony Upton via ten-round unanimous decision (UD) at the Town Hall in Walsall.[14]

After his win over Upton, Hughes relinquished his English title in favour of a final eliminator for the British light-welterweight title,[15] challenging The Ring magazine's number nine ranked contender[16] and WBO Inter-Continental light-welterweight champion Jack Catterall. The bout took place on 13 May 2016 at the Macron Stadium's Premier Suite in Bolton, with Hughes suffering the second defeat of his career, losing by UD with the judges' scorecards reading 117–112, 117–113, and 115–113.[17]

Following the defeat to Catterall, Hughes was installed as the mandatory challenger for the English title that he relinquished prior to the Catterall fight, which was then held by former victim Anthony Upton. Upton elected to relinquish the title instead of fighting Hughes,[15] leaving Hughes to face Andy Keates for the vacant title on 17 December 2016 at Action Indoor Sports in Bristol. Hughes regained the English title via UD, with the judges' scorecards reading 100–92, 98–94, and 97–94.[18]

British title attempt

For his next fight he once again vacated his English title in order to challenge British light-welterweight champion, Tyrone Nurse, on 23 April 2017 at the Leicester Arena. In what was viewed as a surprise result,[19][20] Hughes fought to a twelve-round split draw. One judge scored the bout 115–113 in favour of Hughes, another scored it 116–113 for Nurse while the third judge scored it even at 115–115 to see Nurse retain the British title.[21]

European title

He returned to the Leicester Arena for his next fight, challenging European light-welterweight champion, Anthony Yigit, on 2 December. In a fight that saw Hughes start as the aggressor, he eventually slowed down as he began to tire, going on to suffer his third professional defeat with a UD loss. The judges' scorecards read 118–112, 118–110, and 119–109.[22] After securing a stoppage victory by corner retirement (RTD) against Ruben Rodriguez in February 2018,[23] Hughes was handed a second shot at the European title, this time against Andrea Scarpa for the vacant title on 30 November 2018 at the Teatro Obi Hall in Florence, Italy. Hughes captured his first major regional title via SD, with two judges scoring the bout 118–110 and 116–112 in favour of Hughes while the third judge scored it 116–112 to Scarpa.[24]

He would make a second attempt at the British title in a unification fight against reigning champion Robbie Davies Jr. on 30 March 2019 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Hughes lost his European title by UD, with the judges' scorecards reading 115–114, 115–113, and 118–110.[25]

Cancelled bout with Ritson

He was scheduled to make his comeback on 2 August against former British lightweight champion and reigning WBA Continental light-welterweight champion Lewis Ritson at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre. However, in the week leading up to the fight Hughes was forced to withdraw after suffering a back injury.[26]

Third European title attempt

After recovering from his back injury, Hughes got the chance to become a two-time European champion, challenging reigning champion Sandor Martin on 12 December 2019 at the Pabellón de la Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain. Hughes was unsuccessful in his attempt, losing by a wide UD margin with two judges' scoring the bout 119–108 and the third scoring it 117–111.[27]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

24 fights	17 wins	6 losses
By knockout	7	0
By decision	10	6
Draws	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
24	Loss	17–6–1	Sam Maxwell	UD	10	29 Aug 2020	BT Sport Studio, London, England	For WBO European light-welterweight title
23	Loss	17–5–1	Sandor Martin	UD	12	12 Dec 2019	Pabellón de la Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain	For European light-welterweight title
22	Loss	17–4–1	Robbie Davies Jr.	UD	12	30 Mar 2019	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England	Lost European light-welterweight title; For British light-welterweight title
21	Win	17–3–1	Andrea Scarpa	SD	12	30 Nov 2018	Teatro Obi Hall, Florence, Italy	Won vacant European light-welterweight title
20	Win	16–3–1	Ruben Rodriguez	RTD	6 (8), 3:00	9 Feb 2018	UWE Exhibition and Conference Centre, Bristol, England
19	Loss	15–3–1	Anthony Yigit	UD	12	2 Dec 2017	Leicester Arena, Leicester, England	For European light-welterweight title
18	Draw	15–2–1	Tyrone Nurse	SD	12	22 Apr 2017	Leicester Arena, Leicester, England	For British light-welterweight title
17	Win	15–2	Andy Keates	UD	10	17 Dec 2016	Action Indoor Sports, Bristol, England	Won vacant English light-welterweight title
16	Loss	14–2	Jack Catterall	UD	12	13 May 2016	Macron Stadium's Premier Suite, Bolton, England	For WBO Inter-Continental light-welterweight title
15	Win	14–1	Anthony Upton	UD	10	5 Dec 2015	Walsall Town Hall, Walsall, England	Retained English light-welterweight title
14	Win	13–1	Tomas Bartunek	TKO	1 (8), 3:00	24 Oct 2015	Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon, England
13	Win	12–1	Anthony Hardy	SD	10	18 Jul 2015	Bath Pavilion, Bath, England	Won vacant English light-welterweight title
12	Win	11–1	Jaba Shalutashvili	TKO	8 (10), 1:49	18 Apr 2015	Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, England	Won vacant IBO International light-welterweight title
11	Win	10–1	Philip Bowes	TKO	10 (10), 2:05	11 Oct 2014	The O2 Arena, London, England	Won vacant Southern Area light-welterweight title
10	Win	9–1	Kristian Dochev	PTS	10	5 Apr 2014	The Forum, Bath, England	Won vacant International Masters light-welterweight title
9	Win	8–1	Dougie Curran	PTS	6	7 Dec 2013	Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon, England
8	Win	7–1	William Warburton	PTS	6	26 Oct 2013	Trowbridge Civic Hall, Trowbridge, England
7	Win	6–1	Mark McKray	PTS	6	6 Oct 2012	Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon, England
6	Win	5–1	Matt Seawright	RTD	2 (6), 3:00	2 Jun 2012	GL1 Leisure Centre, Gloucester, England
5	Loss	4–1	Joe Elfidh	PTS	6	3 Mar 2012	Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England
4	Win	4–0	Tony Pace	PTS	6	3 Sep 2011	Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, England
3	Win	3–0	Martin Shaw	TKO	6 (6), 1:39	9 Apr 2011	Rainton Meadows Arena, Houghton-le-Spring, England
2	Win	2–0	Gavin Putney	TKO	1 (6)	5 Feb 2011	Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England
1	Win	1–0	Jason Carr	PTS	6	16 Oct 2010	Troxy, London, England

References

1. Sky Sports tale of the tape prior to the Sandor Martin fight
2. Sky Sports tale of the tape prior to the Sandor Martin fight
3. Maggs, Neil (12 May 2019). "Boxer Joe Hughes on his disability, family life and frustrations". Bristol Post. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
4. "Boxing record for Joe Hughes". BoxRec.
5. "Joe Hughes: Boxer targets intercontinental title despite Erb's palsy". BBC Sport. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
6. "BoxRec: Joe Hughes vs. Jason Carr". boxrec.com. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
7. "BoxRec: Joe Hughes vs. Joe Elfidh". boxrec.com. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
8. "BOXING: Joe Hughes is International Masters champion". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
9. "BoxRec: Joe Hughes vs. Philip Bowes". boxrec.com. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
10. Armit, Eric (21 April 2015). "The Past Week in Action 21 April 2015". BoxeoMundial. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
11. Hall, Danny (24 June 2015). "BOXING: Joe Hughes gets English title chance at Bath Pavilion". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
12. Barnes, Dan (18 July 2015). "Hughes cracks Hardy to win English title". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
13. "VIDEO: Joe Hughes v Tomas Bartunek". Your Sport Swindon. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
14. "BOXING: Joe Hughes retains English title as he beats 'Hitman' Hatton protege Anthony Upton in Walsall". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
15. Jay, Phil (19 October 2016). "Anthony Upton vacates English title". World Boxing News. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
16. Fischer, Doug (13 May 2016). "Jack Catterall outpoints Joe Hughes, earns shot at British title". The Ring. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
17. Foster, Elliot (13 May 2016). "Jack Catterall Beats Hughes, Is Mandatory For Tyrone Nurse". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
18. Barnes, Dan (20 December 2016). "Delighted Joe is king of England once more". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
19. Hall, Danny (25 April 2017). "BOXING: Malmesbury's Joe Hughes surprises the pundits in forcing a draw with British champion Tyrone Nurse". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
20. "Khurtsidze Blasts Tommy Langford To Earn Billy Joe Saunders". BoxingScene.com. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
21. Edwards, Matthew (22 April 2017). "BOXING: Hughes claims draw in British title bout". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
22. Foster, Elliot (2 December 2017). "Anthony Yigit Outpoints Joe Hughes, Retains EBU Crown". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
23. "BoxRec: Joe Hughes vs. Ruben Rodriguez". boxrec.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
24. "Fabio Turchi, Joe Hughes Win Big at Teatro Obi Hall in Florence". BoxingScene.com. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
25. Gilbert, Peter (30 March 2019). "Smith vs Eggington: Robbie Davies Jr unifies super-lightweight titles with victory over Joe Hughes". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
26. L. Stumberg, Patrick (29 July 2019). "Joe Hughes injures back, out of bout with Lewis Ritson". www.badlefthook.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
27. Donovan, Jake (12 December 2019). "Sandor Martin Decisions Joe Hughes, Retains EBU Title". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.

External links

• Boxing record for Joe Hughes from BoxRec