22-year-old Beeston resident Joe Hughes is a professional boxer who will be fighting in only his second pro fight this weekend at Harvey Hadden Stadium.
Joe won his first fight after just 50 seconds and will be hoping for a repeat of that result when he takes on Uzzy Ahmed from Birmingham on July 6th.
I had a chat with him recently to find out more about Beeston’s resident boxer ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
Could you tell me a little bit about how you got into boxing?
“Originally, I got into it when I was a youngster to get rid of a little bit of energy and to stop me misbehaving. Then I stopped doing it until I was 17. My Grandfather passed away with cancer so I signed up to have a charity boxing event and from there I just carried on with it. Last Christmas I signed professionally and had my pro debut in March.”
Who’s on your coaching team and do you have a trainer, who helps you with these fights?
“I train in Hyson Green. My coach is called Barrington Brown, he’s a former professional boxer himself. My assistant coach is Mark Howe, who is also a former professional, so two ex-professionals are now coaching me.
From left: head trainer Barrington Brown, manager Scott Calow and assistant trainer Mark Howell.
How did the fight come about and how was it organised?
“When you sign as a professional, you get a manager and you sign all your contracts with your promoter and he gave me a date for my debut which was on the 16th March. My manager organises who my opponent is. I just turn up, sell tickets and fight.”
Do you box full-time and how are your preparations going for the fight on Saturday?
“I train full-time and I work part-time for just 3 hours a day as a lifeguard. I’ve just been doing a lot of running, training twice a day, dieting and a lot of sparring work and just doing anything that my head coach tells me really.”
What are your future aspirations when it comes to boxing?
“A lot of boxers say this and I think it’s the best way to go about it, you’ve got to take every fight as the fight you’ve got in front of you, but I would say as a short term goal for the next year or two years would be to win an area title.”
Joe won his first fight by knock out after just 50 seconds.
Could you explain what an area title is?
“An area title would be the whole of the Midlands. Everyone in the Midlands competes for one title in my weight class which is super-featherweight, so if I work my way up the rankings then I could apply to have a shot at the title and hopefully win that. After that maybe defend it a couple of times and then move on to either the English or the British titles.”
Who is your opponent and how many fights has he had before?
“The guy I’m fighting has had three fights and his record is two losses and one draw, so he’s looking for his first win.”
Tickets are available by contacting Joe on 07804732595 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jhboxing7/. Doors open at 6:30 pm with the first fight of the night at 7:30 pm.