Kid Galahad vs Maxi Hughes Preview September 24th, 2022
Former IBF Featherweight Champion Kid Galahad of Qatar returns to the ring this Saturday, September 24th when he takes on Maxi Hughes of England. The 10-round junior lightweight bout from Nottingham, England is for Hughes’ IBO Lightweight Title and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Galahad, who also fights out of England, lost his belt in November when he was stopped by Kiko Martinez in the sixth round. He had won the vacant in August, 2021 by stopping James Dickens after 11 rounds. Hughes last boxed in March when he beat Ryan Walsh via a 12-round unanimous decision.
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Galahad vs Hughes Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Maxi Hughes +165
- Kid Galahad -205
My Pick
The 32-year-old Galahad was born Abdul Barry Awad in Doha,Qatar and resides in Sheffield, England. He enters the ring with a record of 28-2 with 17 Ko’s with his first loss coming at the hands of Josh Warrington by split decision in 2019 for the IBF Featherweight Crown. He’s got decent power with a current knockout ratio of 56.7 per cent but isn’t known as a heavy banger.
Back in May, 2015 Galahad was handed a two-year ban for failing a drug test but the suspension was later reduced to 18 months. Since turning pro he’s also won several minor and regional titles such as the WBC International, British, European, and Commonwealth Super Bantamweight Titles as well as the IBF Youth Super Bantamweight Crown and the IBF Inter-Continental Featherweight Title.
His biggest wins have come against Dickens (twice), Toka Khan Clary, Irving Berry, Jose Cayetano, Adeilson Dos Santos and Jason Booth. Galahad stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall and owns a 67-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2009 and has boxed 188 rounds since. He’s gone the distance in three of his last six outings but stopped all six of his previous half dozen opponents.
Hughes is a 32-year-old southpaw with a record of 25-5-2 with just 5 Ko’s and has boxed 219 rounds since making his pro debut in 2010. Both his height and reach are unlisted so we don’t know exactly how he compares to Galahad size-wise. What we do know though is that he possesses very little power as his current knockout ratio stands at only 15.6 per cent.
Since turning pro, Hughes has also won the British Central Area Super Featherweight Title, the WBC International Lightweight Belt and the British lightweight Championship. He won his current IBO Crown by beating Jovanni Straffon by 12-round unanimous decision in October, 2021 and defended it against Walsh in his last fight.
Hughes’ losses have come at the hands of Scott Cardle, Martin Ward and Liam Walsh on points and was stopped by Sam Bowen in eight rounds and Martin Ward after five rounds. The loss to Walsh was for the WBO European Lightweight Title in 2019. His two career draws came against martin Ward over 10 rounds and Ronnie Clark over four rounds.
Prediction……
Hughes is an aggressive boxer who likes to let his hands go but he has to throw punches in bunches because he lacks power. Galahad looked tremendous against Jazza Dickens in their rematch last year but had trouble making weight against Martinez and paid for it by being decked by a highlight-reel KO. Galahad’s speed, aggressiveness and energy should be enough to take care of Hughes but it’s always hard to predict how a boxer will react in his next fight after suffering a severe knockout. Fortunately for Galahad, Hughes doesn’t really have the power to worry about. Hughes is a fine domestic level boxer while Galahad is arguably still at world-class level. I’m expecting Galahad to bounce back here with a win.
Galahad’s a class above Hughes at this stage of their careers.
Play: Galahad -205 @ BetOnline.ag
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Kid Galahad betting • Maxi Hughes betting