BOXING: Joe Hughes back with explosive win (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Malmesbury's Hughes breaks opponent's nose in Gloucester win

10:03am Sunday 3rd June 2012 in Sport By Danny Hall, Sports Editor

JOE HUGHES took just two rounds to get back to winning ways in Gloucester on Saturday night.

Stung by his first defeat as a pro – albeit a hotly-disputed points decision against Joe Elfidh in Sheffield – Hughes was in a mean mood when he got back in the ring at the GL1 Leisure Centre on the Keith Mayo Promotions bill.

The unfortunate sacrificial lamb was veteran Matt Seawright, whose night ended prematurely courtesy of the broken nose he received from the power-punching Malmesbury boxer.

Hughes was conceding 7lb to Seawright but, patiently and methodically, he was soon finding the Tamworth fighter with his precise left jab in the opening three minutes.

A raucous band of Hughes’s supporters from Malmesbury chanted ‘Joe’s gonna get ya’ – and they were not to be disappointed.

The 21-year-old former Senior ABA champion stepped up the pace and power in the second round and Seawright resorted to holding and smothering his opponent at every opportunity.

Frustrated by repeatedly having to wrestle his rival away, Hughes switched up another gear and towards the end of the round caught the Tamworth man with a crunching left hook to the nose, which exploded in a sea of red.

Seconds later, in the break between rounds, the ringside doctor ruled that Seawright was unfit to continue due to a broken nose.

Hughes was looking for more than the six-minute workout that Seawright could provide and he will be keen to get back in the ring quickly to display more of his devastating power – with an Elfidh rematch high on his agenda.