Sam Bowen became the new British super featherweight champion after defeating Maxi Hughes via stoppage in the eighth round at King Power Stadium in Leicester.
Bowen punished Hughes with strong body shots and kept pressure by coming forward. Hughes countered back but it was ‘The Bullet’ who started stronger in the first round.
Hughes showed a lot of movement in the second but it was still Bowen who was landing the stronger shots to the head and body.
Bowen kept finishing the combinations to the body in the third as ‘The Bullet’ received no serious threats from Hughes.
‘Maximus’ started the fourth round strong and swarmed Bowen with punches but was missing a lot. Bowen targeted the body again and connected with strong hooks. Hughes had success but not enough.
Hughes went head hunting in the fifth but was constantly missing with his big power hooks. Bowen kept hitting Hughes with good straight punches and hooks. ‘The Bullet’ had found his rhythm.
The fight became a lot more physical in the sixth with pushing and shoving. Hughes was losing more steam and Bowen wasn’t letting him get off easy.
Bowen kept his relentless pace in the seventh and landed big body shots. Bowen dropped Hughes with a nasty body shot and repeated just before the round ended. Hughes couldn’t continue after two seconds of the eight round and the referee declared Bowen as the winner via stoppage.
Bowen is now unbeaten in 13 contests and now has nine stoppage victories to his name alongside the title of British super featherweight champion.