Maxi Hughes has detailed how William Zepeda “stole his soul” over the course of four damaging rounds.

Hughes’ corner withdrew him at the conclusion of the fourth round at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, where in March the Briton was fighting for the first time since being denied by the judges the victory over George Kambosos Jr that so many observers believed that he deserved.

He was rewarded for his performance against the Australian by then being matched with the aggressive Zepeda, 28 and of Mexico, and will likely recognize that as a consequence, in perhaps the world’s finest weight division, his time as a contender has come to an end.

Zepeda on Saturday, at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, fights Giovanni Cabrera in his latest attempt to establish himself alongside Shakur Stevenson, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis as the 135lbs division’s biggest names.

That on that same evening in Newark, New Jersey, Stevenson defends his WBC lightweight title against Artem Harutyunyan may even enhance the pressure Zepeda is under to again impress.

Having also recently watched Davis stop Frank Martin and Lomachenko defeat Kambosos Jr, Hughes regardless believes that Zepeda can compete with the very best.

He also in 2019 lost to Liam Walsh, two years after seeing Walsh get stopped by Davis, but believes that Zepeda’s relentlessness would provide even Davis, Stevenson and Lomachenko with significant tests.

“I’d watched a couple of his fights and on the commentary they’d mentioned how big he is for the weight,” Hughes said. “One of his fights they were saying, ‘He’s in the ring tonight at 150lbs’. I were like, ‘Well, he ain’t going to be able to do that, because we’ve got the IBF 10lbs ruling’. The fight nearly didn’t happen because of that rule. But both weigh-ins – the official weigh-in and the second-day weigh-in, I were at least half-a-pound heavier than him. I thought, ‘Right, I might be the bigger man here’, thinking I’ve got a little edge on him. But it just didn’t seem to bother him. 

“He wasn’t the hardest puncher. The shots he hit me to the head – I’ve been hit harder in sparring and other fights. But it were just the volume of it. I were getting hit in the head and I thought, ‘I can cope with these’. [But] it’s the body shots that absolutely stole my soul.

“His workrate – we knew he were good. When I fought Jovanni Straffon – he was a southpaw; Mexican; come forward; big puncher. Similar statistics to Zepeda. But Zepeda’s levels above that by better footwork; better punch-placement. He don’t load up anything – he just lets them go, and obviously absolutely loads of them. 

“We’ve seen he’s gone the distance a couple of times, and he did the full 12 with Joseph Diaz, who’s obviously a world-class fighter, and he keeps that pace up for 12 rounds. For some reason the bastard don’t stop. I’ve never known anybody throw that much, and keep throwing, and his punch placement – he doesn’t just go head-hunting; he don’t just go body-hunting, he mixes it up. He’s got a good variety of punches. He’s a good all-rounder, and obviously his number one asset is his workrate and his strength. 

“It’s something we spoke about in the gym. Somebody like Shakur – he’s a master boxer. He’s an absolute master boxer. Could he keep Zepeda off? ‘Cause I’d say Zepeda is a lot better than [previous Stevenson opponent Oscar] Valdez. Valdez is a little bit come forward. But Zepeda’s a level up from that. Is Shakur strong enough to keep him off for 12? How are they going to handle it? 

"The same with Gervonta [Davis]. He can whack, and he can put your lights out, but Mexicans who’ve got good chins, like Zepeda – because Gervonta likes it at a steadier pace – would Zepeda’s work-rate be able to nullify Gervonta, and would his chin stand up to Gervonta? So it’s interesting. He’s up there.”

Hughes, who among others had previously defeated Kid Galahad, was asked who he considered the lightweight division’s very best, and he said: “Right now I’d say ‘Tank’. I do like Shakur a lot as well. Them two are the top guys – and obviously Loma. Loma’s up there [too].

“Look at the names and the names coming through – this Andy Cruz. It’ll be interesting to see him step up. Obviously [Devin] Haney’s moved up [to 140lbs], but it’s still a red-hot division. Not just one or two names – there’s some good names. Frank Martin’s a good fighter as well.

“Hopefully [Zepeda will] go on, win titles, and then my loss won’t look bad at all. Hopefully he’ll go on and do that to everyone.”