George Kambosos Jr. gets a majority decision over Maxi Hughes

Former lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. returned to the win column – but in a highly controversial way – with a majority decision win over Maxi Hughes on Saturday night in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Scores of 114-114, 117-111 and 115-113 by Kambosos (21-2, 10 KO) were met by a raucous chorus as a frustrated Hughes shook his head in disappointment.

Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KO) entered the ring as a near 3-1 underdog, then put on the best performance of his career thanks to his southpaw jab and slick boxing. He stunned Kambosos with a left hand to the body in round 3 and then sliced ​​the Aussie fighter’s right eye in the fifth round with a straight left.

That punch down the middle was Hughes’ best weapon all night in the ESPN main event, but it wasn’t enough to win over the three judges.

“I’m absolutely shocked,” said Hughes, who edged Kambosos 98-90. “No one thought I should be in George’s League. Tonight I came and showed I should have put my hand up. I don’t want to take George’s moment.

“I used my footwork. I made him miss and pay. I got cleaner shots. I don’t want to sound like a sore loser, and I’ll watch it and judge it, but everybody here now knows who Maxi Hughes is.”

England’s 33-year-old Hughes picked up the biggest win of his career, a majority decision over former champion Kid Galahad in September. He will likely get another meaningful opportunity after his US debut, but Kambosos will move on to bigger fights.

Kambosos, a former four-belt lightweight champion, was looking to bounce back from a pair of losses to Devin Haney in Australia last year and did so after a slow start.

“We won the fight by a lot of rounds,” said Kambosos, ESPN’s No. 5 lightweight. “That’s no shame on Maxi Hughes. He had a couple of good rounds. But a couple of good rounds don’t win a fight. We won most of the rounds. That’s why we picked him. He was a tough test.”

The win is Kambosos’ first since Teofimo Lopez’s victory in ESPN’s 2021 Upset of the Year contest, which put Kambosos atop the loaded 135-pound division.

“I have to be rougher,” Kambosos said. “He moved around a lot and didn’t train a lot, but that’s how he fights.”

Davis remains undefeated

Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis maintained his undefeated streak with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Francesco Patera in the ESPN co-main event.

The scores were 100-89, 99-90 and 100-89 for Davis, who loaded Patera with a counter right in round 8.

It was the first time Patera, a 30-year-old Belgian, was on the canvas during his professional career.

Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) otherwise did not perform explosively, but again showed his trained boxing and boxing ability. Most of all, he gained valuable experience against a veteran fighter before he hopes for next year’s title shot.

“I give myself a C-plus or a B-minus,” said Davis, a 24-year-old from Norfolk, Virginia. “I really can’t be too hard on myself if I don’t stop these guys because they have a lot more experience than I do. But at the end of the day, I’m unanimously beating them every round.

“I just had to take my hat off just doing little things like that, sticking to my game plan, listening to my coaching and just having fun out there. It was great to get the rounds against a tough opponent like Patera. I needed that spice as I progressed in my career.”