Tim Bradey feels that Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) got “robbed BAD” in losing a twelve round majority decision to George Kambosos Jr (21-2, 10 KOs) in an IBF lightweight title eliminator last Saturday night at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Obviously, Hughes was chosen because he was supposed to be a beatable guy for Kambosos Jr to earn a title shot by winning the IBF 135-lb title eliminator, showcase his skills to fans, look good, and build his self-confidence.
They chose the wrong guy in Hughes because he was clearly better than Kambosos all night, a lot better.
Ignoring the bizarre scoring by the three judges that worked the fight, it was embarrassingly one-sided. One almost felt sorry for the 30-year-old Kambosos Jr because he didn’t belong in the same ring as the southpaw Hughes, and his career appeared to be over.
But the three judges, with their crazy scoring, not only saved Kambosos’ career, but they set him up for another big payday, which could be millions depending if he gets his wish to fight Vasily Lomachenko next.
Kambosos can forget about getting another fight with Devin Haney because that’s not going to happen. The fight wouldn’t sell, and Haneey isn’t desperate enough to fight Kaamboos Jr again. 114-
The scores for Kambosos vs. Hughes fight were 114, 117-111, and 115-113.
Hughes got robbed BAD
“Oh, by the way, Hughes got robbed. I mean, bad. I’m talking about bad,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype, discussing Maxi Hughes’ controversial twelve round majority decision defeat against George Kambosos Jr last Saturday night.
“It was terrible. He got outboxed. There was nothing that he could do,” Bradley said about Kambosos. “He don’t know how to close distance. He’s got those short arms, dinosaur arms, trying to close, and he don’t know how.”
Kambosos never did know how to box. His claim to fame was beating an ill Teofimo Lopez, who shouldn’t have been in the ring that night because he in no condition to fight.
Before that match, Kambosos was just a basic fringe contender. His best wins were against old & shot Mickey Bey & Lee Selby, and he barely beat them.
“When you have somebody that knows how to control distance or control distance, it makes it hard for a guy that likes to get in and likes to rumble. It’s as simple as that,” said Bradley.
“I didn’t score the fight, but I just know that Hughes was dominating, and it all started off with the poor foot placement of George Kambosos walking to his right, starting off. I’m like, ‘He’s walking towards the left hand.
“You can do that, but you got to be able to anticipate the left hand coming. You ain’t fought many southpaws. You got one southpaw on your resume, and you got a bunch of sparring rounds with Manny Pacquiao. That was years ago.
“So those angles are hard to deal with. You got to get accustomed to it, and that’s why I always tell all these young fighters, ‘Hey, get a southpaw in your gym. Spar a southpaw on a regular. Get used to those angles, get acclimated to those angles because it will help you, in the long run, to understand how to fight a southpaw.’
“But Hughe’s feet was great. His feet were great, and his positioning was great. Yeah, he sat back, he would draw him in, flick the jab out there, and then take that half a step back and Bing-Bing, either an uppercut, a nice little bolo downstairs, dig to the ribs.
“I mean, he did some really good things in there. He started looking for that uppercut, trying to time that uppercut right up the middle,” Bradley said about Hughes. “Awesome things in there. He’s a good boxer, and I saw this coming in, and I told the guys, ‘Don’t be surprised if he was upset,’ because I saw the discipline in Hughes’ game.
“I saw the discipline. He’s very disciplined. Hands up, very technical. Keeps his hands up, very fundamentally sound, and that’s what he got with his trainer Sean Hagen. He’s taught him very well, and he’s confident. He knows how to use it, and he’s tactically sound.
“So he would tie him up once he would step in and tie him up, and he’ll get back on the outside, and he’ll work. He’ll let him fall over, get a chance to tie up. He did do some dirty stuff in there, though.
“He did throw a couple of elbows. That’s bad, that’s terrible, and he needed to be called out for that because one is like, ‘Maybe it wasn’t,’ but two elbows?
“I don’t know if y’all saw that. That right there, that’s foul, and I don’t agree with that,” said Bradley about the two blows Hughes hit Kambosos with.
