Underdog Hughie Wilson targeting life-changing boxing upset
Super lightweight Hughie Wilson has been matched against 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Lasha Guruli
Sheffield-trained Hughie Wilson intends to pull off one of the boxing surprises of the year, on a Frank Warren show later this month.
The super lightweight has been matched against 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Lasha Guruli, touted as a big prospect by Queensberry Promotions.
Wilson will be the underdog in the televised eight-rounder at the bp pulse LIVE Arena, Birmingham.
And that suits him down to the ground.
"I love being the underdog, they think I don't have a hope in hell. It means all the pressure is on him. Nobody is giving me a chance. I have nothing to lose and hopefully we'll show that their team has picked the wrong opponent in me" he said.
Hughie, who is trained by Steve Nettleship and is managed by Ryan Rhodes, has respect for the unbeaten Georgian, who has won all three of his fights on UK soil, and was on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk v Daniel Dubois at Wembley last year.
"He has a phenomenal boxing brain and will be hard to pin down. It'll be my hardest fight, but I don't think he will take me to the trenches, it will probably be a chess match.
"While he is a fantastic boxer, he has always been the bigger guy, against his previous opponents.
"And I have shared sparring rounds with world champions and great fighters like Dalton Smith, Kid Galahad, Jack Catterall and Josh Warrington.
"I will be the bigger man in this fight (Sept 26) and it will be interesting to see how he will try and overcome that obstacle.
"I will just go in there and do my job, knowing a win will lead to bigger things and change my life."
The 26-year-old, who lives in Toll Bar, Doncaster, will have been buoyed by the fact that Guruli can be caught - he was dropped by Liam Dillon at Southampton FC stadium in June, before going on to win.
The South Yorkshireman has lost two of his 13 professional fights, although he disputed the split decision ruling in Billy Pickles' favour and said there had been confusion over the length of the ultimate six-round loss to Hashim Rehman.
"That doesn't faze me, I feel I am unbeaten," he says.
"I know I can box or I can fight and there will be a lot of variables on the night against Guruli."
Away from the hullabaloo of boxing, Hughie says he lives the quiet life. His ambition is to win titles and buy a farmhouse.