Boxing referee controversially lets Maxi Hughes brutally knockout Paul Hyland Jr despite his rival being defenceless and having his BACK turned in British title fight
- Maxi Hughes won the British lightweight title in controversial fashion on Friday
- The 31-year-old beat Paul Hyland Jr to win the Lonsdale belt at MTK Fight Night
- Referee Mark Lyson let Hughes hit Hyland Jr while he had his back turned
Maxi Hughes won the British lightweight title in controversial fashion on Friday night after boxing referee Mark Lyson allowed the 31-year-old to knockout a defenceless Paul Hyland Jr.
The 31-year-old secured an eighth-round knockout victory over Hyland on the MTK Fight Night undercard after referee Lyson confused the pair in a peculiar sequence of events.
Hughes had bulldozed through Hyland’s defence with a series of crippling body shots, leaving him doubled over in pain in the centre of the ring.
Maxi Hughes controversially knocked out Paul Hyland Jr to win a British title on Friday
The ref was about to step in and rule a knockdown, when Hyland didn’t go down he signaled for them both to continue, Hyland turned and walked away and got cracked by Hughes… Ref then stopped the fight.
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Lyson launched himself between the two rivals, with Hyland interpreting that gesture to mean that he was calling a knockdown and began to stumble back to his own corner.
However, the referee waved his arms together to indicate that he was not recording a knockdown, with a confused Hughes dashing over to the far corner to finish Hyland with a flurry of devastating blows that floored the stunned fighter and left the contest beyond any doubt.
The manner of the victory leaves a bittersweet taste for Hughes, who has enjoyed a fantastic run of form since lockdown, stringing together three wins that has seen him clinch the Lonsdale belt.
Hyland Jr had his back turned having felt that referee Mark Lyson would score a knockdown
However, Lyson let the fight continue as Hughes launched himself at his defenceless rival
Hughes let off a flurry of punches that put the fight beyond doubt at MTK Fight Night
‘Coming into the fight it was always our plan to target the body,’ Hughes told iFL TV.
‘He [Hyland] looked susceptible to the body. It was working all the time. The finish I caught him with the bodyshot, he dipped and half turned, I stepped back because I thought that’s what the ref said.
‘He [Hyland] then turned his back and I looked in the referee’s eye to say “are you stopping it or are we carrying on?” and he said “box on”.
‘He came to the dressing room before the fight and said defend yourself at all times. Paul turned his back which you should not do and I did what I had to do.’
In the main event, Lee McGregor won the European bantamweight title after a sensational first round stoppage of Karim Guerfi.
The 31-year-old gave his account of events after winning the British lightweight title