Giorgio Visioli beats Maxi Hughes By Majority Decision

A difficult eighth round supplied the examination Giorgio Visioli had been seeking, and his response preserved both his unbeaten record and his progress beyond English title level. The Aldershot lightweight defeated Maxi Hughes by majority decision over ten rounds at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena on Saturday, October 24, claiming the vacant WBC International Silver championship after a contest that became uncomfortable late on.

Lee Every scored it 95 points apiece, while Ray Danseco and Jon Llona Fernandez each returned 96 points to 94 for Visioli. The result moves the 23 year old to 12 wins, 0 losses and 0 draws, with 6 knockouts. Hughes, 36, now has 29 wins, 10 losses and 2 draws, with 6 knockouts. Both weighed 134.9 pounds for the Matchroom promotion, broadcast by DAZN, with Kieran McCann appointed referee.

The meeting of southpaws was the principal support to Dalton Smith’s WBC super lightweight defence against Alberto Puello. It represented a substantial increase in experience for Visioli, who had relinquished his English title to pursue this opportunity. His previous outing brought a points victory over Levi Giles. Hughes arrived after a difficult excursion to super lightweight, where Pierce O’Leary stopped him in March, and was returning to his more familiar division.

Visioli had made his intentions plain before the contest. “I think the stoppage is there,” he said at the final press conference. Hughes, whose earlier victories over Kid Galahad and Gary Cully had spoiled promotional plans, replied by describing himself as the “Matchroom exterminator”. There was humour in the warning, but the underlying point was serious. The Yorkshireman had sufficient experience to demand more than an attractive prospect’s usual demonstration of speed.

The opening round was restrained, both men looking for an advantage without offering an easy counter. Hughes supplied its clearest warning near the bell, landing a sharp left hand. Visioli absorbed it and continued boxing carefully in the second. Neither was prepared to turn a cautious assessment into an uncontrolled exchange, and the younger man had to establish his superiority through positioning and accuracy rather than an immediate physical advantage.

Visioli began finding his range in the third. His left hand reached Hughes more regularly, while his movement helped him control when the exchanges occurred. The jab became increasingly important, interrupting Hughes’s approach and giving Visioli space to place his other punches. Hughes remained alert enough to answer, but his difficulty was getting close often enough to make his experience count.

The fourth offered further evidence of Visioli’s sharper work without suggesting that Hughes was ready to be overwhelmed. The veteran landed another conspicuous left and continued escaping attempts to hold him near the corners. Visioli was gaining ground, but there was a distinction between winning exchanges and breaking an opponent down. Hughes’s judgement of distance and his ability to move away prevented those successful passages from becoming a sustained attack.

Through the fifth and sixth, Visioli’s jab and cleaner punching continued to give him the more convincing spells. The action remained measured, with Hughes finding limited opportunities to answer. This was less a question of spectacular combinations than of repeatedly reaching the target while denying the return. It was useful, disciplined work, although it did not resemble the stoppage Visioli had envisaged.

Hughes made his challenge more forceful as the contest moved into its closing stages. The eighth was his strongest round. He increased the pressure, landed to the head and body and left Visioli bleeding from a cut around the eye. Suddenly the younger boxer was taking punches in succession rather than merely having to acknowledge an occasional clean counter. Hughes had found the spell he needed to put the result under greater pressure.

Visioli’s answer was to restore distance in the ninth and return to the jab. Hughes kept advancing, but the prospect recovered enough order to prevent the eighth becoming the pattern for the remainder. He handled the final round with similar restraint, taking away opportunities for a sustained late assault. The response was significant: he had been hit, cut and made uncomfortable, yet retained sufficient composure to complete the assignment.

The majority verdict reflected the close scoring, although several ringside accounts considered Visioli a clearer winner than the cards suggested. His speed and accuracy earned him the decision; Hughes’s late success explained why it required concentration to the finish. For the veteran, it is a third successive defeat, but a considerably more competitive showing back at lightweight. For Visioli, the value lies in having negotiated an opponent capable of changing the terms of the contest.

I thought Maxi Hughes was excellent at times. His timing and punch selection troubled Visioli, particularly when he put his attacks together to head and body. He just couldn’t sustain those spells long enough. Give me a younger version of Maxi, and I believe we’d have seen his hand raised. The understanding is still there, but he couldn’t keep applying it throughout.

Visioli’s got real talent. I like his jab, his speed and the composure he showed in getting back to his boxing after being cut. But coming out of attacks in straight lines against someone like Hughes is asking to be caught. He needs to finish his combinations with an angle, taking himself away from the return rather than leaving Maxi a clear route back in. A valuable win, certainly, but there’s still work to be done.