Maxi Hughes defended his IBO lightweight title for a second time with a majority decision victory over former world champion Kid Galahad at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

The original winner of the event was supposed to be home hero Leigh Wood defending his WBA featherweight title against Mauricio Lara, but Wood was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Hughes (26-5-2, KO5) came into this in the form of his life after a brilliant two years in which he won the British and WBC International titles, then captured the IBO strap with a points victory over Jovanni Straffon in September last year. He made his first save in March, significantly outperforming Ryan Walsh. Galahad (28-3, KO17) fulfilled his dream of becoming the IBF featherweight world champion last August, but his first defense shattered his world when Kiko Martinez stopped him six to three months later.

Galahad started this round confidently at the start, having enjoyed a decent first round, but Hughes stepped up to the plate and engaged in an argument, although the rounds were challenging to come by. Hughes landed his left hand, which gave him a foothold in the contest, but the rounds were uneven and it was a matter of what you liked. Galahad worked the body well in the second half, but round nine was Hughes’ best yet, landing cleanly and then landing his left hand consistently. Galahad had a point deducted for using his head in round ten, which lifted Hughes’ spirits, but once again the Yorkshireman led with his jab, which seemed to keep him alive in the fight. Hughes’ work rate allowed him to finish well in the final round, and by the time the fight was over the result looked to be a winnable one.

Scores of 117-111 and 114-113 won for Hughes, with the third card scoring 114-114.

Terri Harper (13-1-1, KO6) won the WBA and IBO super welterweight titles with an impressive points victory over Hannah Rankin (12-6, KO3).

Harper was previously the WBC and IBO super featherweight champion, and in her last fight she fought at lightweight. The Dennaby native Main moved up about three weight classes to face Rankin.

Harper was too quick and exact for a Scot early on, leaving Rankin with a nasty cut above her left eye. Harper stayed one step ahead almost the entire race and tired in the behind schedule stages, but won by two scores of 98-92 and one third by a score of 97-93.

Cyrus Pattinson (5-0 KO3) won his first professional title, defeating Jorick Luisetto (12-5, KO3) in the sixth round of the scheduled ten. Pattinson followed up his latest victory with the vacant IBO Continental welterweight title.

Solomon Dacres (5-1, KO1) remained flawless and was defeated by Ariel Esteban Bracamonte (11-10, KO6) in the heavyweight division for the full ten rounds. Dacres was deducted a point in round nine for a low blow, but he won every round with three 99-90 verdicts.

Cheavon Clarke (3-0, KO3) picked up another early win, defeating cruiserweight Marcos Karalitzky (7-6-2, KO2) in four rounds.

Mohammed Sameer (5-0, KO1) from Peterborough remained undefeated, winning all four rounds against the proven Dale Arrowsmith (4-66-2, KO1).

Junaid Bostan (3-0, KO3) also remained perfect, ending undefeated Belgian Anas Isarti’s (2-1, KO0) record in the super welterweight and lightweight divisions Rhiannon Dixon (6-0 KO0) fought all six rounds against Edina Pocałunek (15- 16, KO9).

Claressa Shields once again became the undisputed middleweight champion with a breathless points victory over Savannah Marshall in a thriller at the O2 Arena in London.

History was made as the fight was all-women’s and culminated in a long-awaited grudge match between two opponents with history as Marshall (12-1, KO10) defeated Shields (13-0, KO2) as an amateur before the American scored two Olympic gold medals and became the undisputed champion as a professional in the middleweight and super welterweight divisions. Marshall became the WBO middleweight champion in October 2020 and has defended three times, all on schedule.

Marshall came running to meet Shields from the first bell, but the American pounced on Marshall with multiple shots to the head and body midway through the first round. The pair traded to start the second, with Marshall landing a substantial right hand but then being caught by an uppercut as the frantic action continued. Shields’ speed gave her the edge against Marshall’s powerful striking, and the fourth saw her step out on the front foot, regularly out-boxing Marshall. Marshall rallied in the fifth, pinning Shields down in the corner, but “GWOAT” had the better of the exchanges.

Shields was excellent, although she was starting to tire in the sixth period, yet she still peppered her opponent with solid shots. Marshall had her best round yet in the seventh, landing decent hooks and body shots, and Shields was cut above the left eye in the eighth as Marshall gained confidence. In the penultimate round, the two men swapped places again and traded skin until the final bell, when the crowd was on its feet at the end.

Two scores of 97-93 and a third score of 96-94 allowed Shields to deservedly be declared the winner.

Baumgardner’s Unification

There were plenty of world titles on offer in the co-main event, with Alicia Baumgardner (13-1, KO7) adding the IBF and WBO super featherweight titles to her WBC belt with a split decision win over Mikaela Mayer (17-17-). 1, KO5).

There were a lot of pins and needles throughout the preparations and it was the Detroit native who came out on top in the injury battle.

Mayer started well, using her boxing skills to good effect, but Baumgardner found success in miniature, keen bursts. The pair attracted attention at various stages and it seemed that Mayer’s slick and clever boxing won the fight, but Baumgardner’s aggression seemed to win the fight in the end for the judges, and she won by two points, 96-95, topping the 97-93 score for Mayer.

Undercard remaining

Caroline Dubois (4-0, KO3) was once again in absolute form when the athlete stopped Milena Koleva (10-15-1, KO4) in the fifth round. Dubois knocked Koleva to the ground in the fourth round, and a session later, a body shot bent Koleva, and another attack left the guy stabbed on the ropes and the referee waved him off and stopped the fight.

In addition to Dubois, another pair of British Olympians were in action, with 2020 Olympic gold medalist Lauren Price (2-0, KO1) impressing with a fourth-round stoppage of welterweight Timea Belik (6-7, KO2). Price was a level ahead of her opponent and the fight was wisely called off as Belik came under ponderous fire.

Tokyo bronze medalist Karriss Artingstall (2-0, KO0) easily defeated Marina Sakharov (5-17-2, KO3) in the featherweight division.

April Hunter (6-1, KO0) followed up her rebuilding star’s first career loss and fought all six rounds at super welterweight against Erica Juana Gabriela Alvarez (3-7, KO0).

Sarah Liegmann (6-0, KO1) remained undefeated with a 59-55 victory over the always reliable super bantamweight Bec Connolly (3-16, KO0) on the judge’s scorecard. Ginny Fuchs (2-0, KO1) also remained excellent, winning all six rounds of her super flyweight bout against Gemma Ruegg (5-5, KO1). Also in the super flyweight division, Shannon Ryan (3-0, KO0) defeated Buchra El Quassi (3-3-3, KO1) 40-36. Georgia O’Connor (3-0, KO0) defeated Joyce Van Ee (2-1-1, KO1) in the super welterweight division.

Katie Taylor successfully defended her undisputed lightweight title once again, defeating Karen Elizabeth Carabajal over ten rounds at Wembley Arena.

Taylor (22-0, KO6) has long been the undisputed champion, most recently defeating Amanda Serrano, her closest rival, in April at Madison Square Garden in Recent York. A rematch between the two was discussed. Carabajal (19-1, KO2) had never fought outside of her native Argentina and was competing at a higher level than usual.

Scores of 100-91, 99-91 and 98-92 were enough for the Irishwoman to defend her WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

Kiko Martinez (44-11-2, KO31) once again defied logic and won the European featherweight title, defeating Jordan Gill (27-2-1, KO8) in the fourth round. The former two-time world champion dropped Gill four times en route to an emphatic victory.

Gary Cully (15-0, KO9) impressed again, needing less than a round to defeat Jaouad Belmehdi (16-1-3, KO7) in a set to ten at lightweight.

Ellie Scotney (6-0, KO0) became the novel European super bantamweight champion, defeating Mary Romero (8-3, KO2) by point. Scotney won by scores of 97-93, 97-94 and 96-94.

Johnny Fisher (7-0, KO6) secured the fastest victory in his professional career, defeating Dominik Musil (7-5, KO5) in the round. Heavyweight Romford dropped Musil twice with chopping right hands, and after another attack, the referee waved away the fight.

Mickey Ellison (14-4, KO5) defended his Central Zone featherlight heavyweight title, defeating Thomas Whittaker Hart (7-1, KO3) by one point. Ellison won the contest by a margin of 95-94.

Jordan Reynolds (6-0, KO1) remained undefeated with a 60-55 victory in a six-round super welterweight bout against Jose Manuel Lopez Clavero (16-19-1, KO5).

John Hedges (7-0, KO2) also proved undefeated, breaking the undefeated record of Ales Makovec (3-1, KO2) in a 60-53 victory in the featherlight heavyweight division.

Maisey Rose Courtney (1-0, KO0) made her debut and fought all four rounds against Judit Hachbold (5-18, KO1) in the minimum weight.