In his first column of 2024, Joe Hughes analyzes Artur Beterbiev against Callum Smith and Anthony Joshua against Francis Ngannou. The former European super lightweight champion also talks about his own plans for the year and pays tribute to a “vital” member of his family who sadly passed away recently.
THIS time of year everyone wants to get back to the gym, so I’ve gotten some clients; some new, others who have returned.
I’ve been training quite a bit and I’ve been quite involved in the amateur club training. We had our show at the club in mid-December and it didn’t go very well. In my opinion, a lot of our fighters underperformed, so we’ve given them a proverbial kick. We have become stricter with them and have been on their case trying to make sure they meet the standard we expect.
I will continue to make progress in 2024 with my training and being involved with the amateur club. I’m still undecided about my own career. I need to make a decision about what I’m going to do. During Christmas I trained a lot. I need to box this year and compete or not. I feel like I need to do that for my own peace of mind and that of my family.
On a personal note, an aunt of mine passed away this week. She was a high-level nurse and very important to me. When I was born, she was on the case with my parents because she understood what had happened to me. They didn’t really know much about it. We currently have the Erbs Palsy charity, which is good for parents, but when I was born it didn’t exist. This was before the Internet. It was difficult to get information or learn anything about it. Luckily for me, she knew everything and stressed the importance of physical therapy. She had the ball from the beginning, which helped improve my skill and arm capacity. Whatever limitations there were, they would have been worse if it hadn’t been for her experience.
It seems like a good start to the boxing year with some of the fights already done. Sometimes what happens outside of the sport overshadows what happens in the ring, but you can’t get too much of a sniff at what we’re getting during the first few months.
I’m really interested in seeing Beterbiev vs. Smith. I know Callum a little bit. We were in the same England team a few times when we were younger and we were in the same championships, believe it or not, but we never fell out with each other. We were in the same age group and the same weight, then I stopped growing!
Callum has continued to get better and better and better. As a professional he has done brilliantly. He came up short against Canelo (Alvarez), but that’s no shame. That night he didn’t look the same as when he fought George Groves. I think he has a good chance on Saturday. Beterbiev is one of the best fighters in the sport, probably one of the best pound-for-pound punchers. He is a destroyer, but he also has very good technical ability. I think Callum can win if he is fresh, which he should be, and if he can stay away and not get caught by Beterbiev’s big guns. He has a reach advantage and he has power. Beterbiev is the favorite, but Callum is a real underdog. I wish Callum all the best. Hopefully, the winner will face Dmitry Bivol and we will have a light heavyweight champion.
It looks like we will see Anthony Joshua fight Francis Ngannou in March. It’s a fight I’m looking forward to and I wouldn’t have said that six months ago. Ngannou performed very well against Tyson Fury and has the style that could be a tough job for Joshua.
Joshua is usually the stronger, more athletic, bigger man against whoever he faces. However, he will not be against Ngannou. Obviously he is more skilled and has a lot more experience, and I would expect Joshua to win, but I think it will be an intriguing and interesting fight. On paper, it shouldn’t be like that. I don’t think Joshua underestimates Ngannou like Fury did. The cat is now out of the bag.
