Nina Hughes: “I am an incredibly determined person, that’s how I won the world title in the first place, so I won’t give up now.”

Nina Hughes: “I am an incredibly determined person, that’s how I won the world title in the first place, so I won’t give up now.”

By Matt Elliott

It is often said in boxing that inactivity is the biggest threat to a fighter’s career. In such a brutal sport, you cannot overstate the importance of staying both physically and mentally in tune, and whilst gruelling training camps and sparring sessions are of vital importance in preparing a fighter, nothing can replace the experience of stepping into the ring on a regular basis. On occasions, inactivity is a conscious decision, but more often than not, it is the unfortunate consequence of boxing politics and something that a fighter has almost no control over.

Nina Hughes had five fights in twelve months after making her professional debut in December 2021, culminating in victory over Jamie Mitchell, which saw her become the WBA bantamweight world champion. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that she had signed a promotional deal with Matchroom, with huge domestic and unification fights targeted, as Eddie Hearn stated that he was looking forward to delivering Hughes what she deserved during 2023. Fast forward twelve months and those promises have failed to materialise.

Hughes fought just once last year, a convincing title defence against Katie Healy, who stepped in as a late replacement when original opponent Shannon Courtenay withdrew due to injury. These lack of opportunities did not go unnoticed and led to Hughes posting a statement on social media at the beginning of this year, addressing the inactivity and her desire to ensure 2024 is a far more productive year. It was perhaps, therefore, no surprise when just a week later, Hughes announced a new management team, as she parted company with Lee Eaton and joined forces with Leon Sudbury of Takeover Sports Management. As I caught up with Hughes via Zoom this past week, I found her in a philosophical mood.

“It has been a really frustrating time. You keep hoping to get a fight, and I was hoping to box again at the end of last year. I was in training, half in camp, thinking I was going to get a date and it just never ended up happening, so it’s hard because you are training and you keep getting told, it might be this month, it could be that month, so you have to be ready, because if they spring a date on you at short notice, then you’ve already been warned about it, so it’s not short notice in that respect. So, I was training hard throughout the year, and nothing materialised, but now it is a case of looking forward to this year.”

It was good to hear Hughes maintaining a positive outlook, but the recent months can not have been easy. Her story is not unique, with many fighters struggling to compete regularly, but at the age of forty-one, she does not have the luxury of wasting time. I questioned how this period had impacted Hughes mentally and whether thoughts of walking away had ever entered her thinking.

“It’s been quite stressful because you put everything into your training and you think you are going to get a fight date, so you will train through niggles, because you want to make sure you are ready when the opportunity comes and when it doesn’t happen it is mentally destroying sometimes. You are putting all the effort in, spending a lot of money on camps, paying for nutritionists and strength and conditioning, so there’s a lot of costs people don’t realise boxers have to pay for, so when nothing is coming back in, you feel like it’s all for nothing, which can be frustrating and stressful. It can get to the point where you think why am I doing this, but at the same time, I am so determined not to let anything beat me. I am an incredibly determined person. That’s how I won the world title in the first place, so I won’t give up now and let the business side of things defeat me.” 

The decision to change her management team and move away from Lee Eaton, someone Hughes has known for a long time and worked with since turning professional, was not an easy one but with opportunities failing to materialise it became inevitable, as Hughes explained.

“The last couple of weeks, I realised I needed a fresh start and to try something different and shake things up a bit as nothing was happening. I feel like I have been out of the ring for so long that I need to try something new. With that frustration, you just realise that it’s the right time for change, and surrounding yourself with new people and new ideas can do you the world of good. I’ve got nothing bad to say about Lee, but the relationship had just become a bit stale, so I am hoping a fresh start will get something going.”

Teaming up with Takeover Sports Management provides that fresh approach, although the relationship is not entirely new, with Hughes already collaborating with them on PR and sponsorship opportunities. When deciding to make a change on the management front, I asked how easy it had been to expand this relationship?

“We were quite close anyway and had built up a good working relationship, so it just made sense going forward. When you are working with someone who represents a lot of people, it is a lot of work for them, and they are busy, and you are one of many. With this new structure, there are fewer of us at the moment, so a lot more time can be spent with us as individuals. As I say, it’s a fresh start and a fresh person who is more enthusiastic because it’s a new relationship and it’s always like that when something is new, so I’m hoping it will bring about opportunities.” 

As well as parting company with Eaton, Hughes is no longer contracted to Matchroom. The two fights that were originally touted when she first signed, against Shannon Courtenay and Ebanie Bridges, failed to materialise through no fault of her own, and she is now free to explore new avenues. Bridges was a fight Hughes called for publicly, but whilst any hopes of that happening were slim, they were completely derailed when the Australian lost her IBF title to Miyo Yoshida in December. As a result, Matchroom now has an option on the Japanese fighter, which ironically could lead to a showdown with Hughes in the future, with both fighters seemingly keen.

“If that fight can happen next, that is what we want. There have been talks of it landing in Japan, and Matchroom has a deal to host events there, so it is a possibility, and she seems interested. I have never met with her or spoken to her, but she has been reposting things on social media and sharing articles and stories about us fighting, so she seems up for it. We are both Mums, and we are both come forward, aggressive fighters, so I think it would make for a good fight. After the Katie (Healy) fight, my main aim was to unify, so hopefully that’s a fight that can be made shortly.”

With a new management team and a renewed focus, I finished our chat by asking Hughes what she saw as a realistic target for the year ahead.

“When I first turned professional, I boxed five times in a year, so if I could box three or four times this year, that would be great, but realistically, three times would be nice. In an ideal world, my next fight would be against Yoshida and then Dina Thorslund next. I mean, they are both easy enough fights to make, so I am hoping it can happen that way.”

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing