GRADES: GEORGE KAMBOSOS, MAXI HUGHES, KEYSHAWN DAVIS & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

Not the busiest weekend but boxing found a way to throw us a few curveballs.

For starters, on Friday, unheralded Erik Robles upset previously-unbeaten Lee McGregor in a very solid fight. Then, because it's boxing after all, we were treated to a controversial decision on Saturday in America when George Kambosos narrowly beat Maxi Hughes.

On the Kambosos-Hughes undercard, we also saw wins from upstarts Keyshawn Davis and Giovani Santillan.

So, without much more rambling, let's hand out these Grades:

GEORGE KAMBOSOS
GRADE: C-
RESULT: DEF. MAXI HUGHES, 12MDEC (LIGHTWEIGHT)

To put it plainly, George Kambosos didn't look good against Maxi Hughes.

Now, prior to their encounter, while I picked Kambosos to win, I did feel as though it might be a tough fight. However, it wasn't that it was just tough. Kambosos just fundamentally didn't look good in there.

His lead foot was almost exclusively on the inside of Hughes' lead foot. His timing was off, allowing the lightly-heralded Hughes to dictate terms. He had volume, but it wasn't effective at all. Hughes did way more throwing much less.

Perhaps that volume saved the Australian. It couldn't have been anything else (other than corruption of course).

In his defense, Kambosos was coming off two confidence-killing losses to Devin Haney, and had a layoff for the better part of a year. Still, if he's to swim with the sharks at 135 and 140 pounds, respectively, Kambosos will need to be much better than that.

MAXI HUGHES
GRADE: B+
RESULT: LOSS TO GEORGE KAMBOSOS, 12MDEC (LIGHTWEIGHT)

You have to feel for Maxi Hughes.

Hughes, a veteran of 33 fights heading into the Georgo Kambosos fight, has never won more than seven fights in a row. Hughes was always the underdog, the fighter brought in to be just tough enough to test -- but not beat -- the favorite.

However, sometime around early 2020, his hard work and dedication started paying off. Since that time, Hughes had strung together a solid run of wins that included victories over domestic foes Jono Carroll and Ryan Walsh, before a massive upset over former titlist Kid Galahad.

All of that...to come to America and lose a highly controversial decision to an Australian.

Hughes was the better boxer, landed the more fight-shaping shots and dictated terms in almost every way on the night. Sure, Kambosos landed a dozen more power shots or so. However, that shouldn't have been enough over the course of a fight.

Hughes was robbed of a decision win. Here's hoping the decision is made for Maxi to get another crack at something meaningful in the future.

KEYSHAWN DAVIS
GRADE: B-
RESULT: DEF. FRANCESCO PATERA, 10UD (LIGHTWEIGHT)

Undefeated Keyshawn Davis is in a unique spot for a rising Lightweight prospect/contender.

In some respects, he looks a bit too good to be dwelling with the lower level guys. Against Francesco Patera, for example, Davis looked like he was playing around in the ring at times en route to a clear unanimous decision victory.

On the other hands, if he was ready for all the top guys in the sport, maybe Davis would have finished Patera off instead of playing with his food.

Still, Davis had little-to-no problems in there on the night. He dropped Patera in the eighth, landed just about any shot he wanted to land, and secured his ninth win as a pro.

Remember, Davis' ninth. As in, we have to remember that he isn't the finished article just yet.

Overall, a decent performance for te unbeaten American.

GIOVANI SANTILLAN
GRADE: B-
RESULT: DEF. ERICK BONE, 10UD (WELTERWEIGHT)

Well, that was a damn close call.

Before getting too harsh with your criticism of Giovani Santillan, remember: He's been off for a year and a half. That being said, it definitely seemed to show on the night.

Santillan was out landed by a few punches, and seemed just a bit behind at various times in the contest. However, the judges seemed to favor his cleaner, if a bit more selective work.

Also, in the interest of fairness, Santillan was never in any dramatic trouble, just caught more with shots you would hope he avoids on his way up the rankings.

Again, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Come back from a layoff, maybe underestimating the task. Either way, hell need to improve as his competition improves.

OTHER GRADES:
ERIK ROBLES
GRADE: A+
RESULT: DEF. LEE McGREGOR, 12UD (JR. FEATHERWEIGHT)
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LEE McGREGOR
GRADE: B-
RESULT: LOSS TO ERIK ROBLES, 12UD (JR. FEATHERWEIGHT) 

LINKS:

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