Continued from Part One…
he said, “‘Oh shit, what am I going to do now?’
“They said they might be able to get it done Monday, because they don’t work weekends. I spoke to Tony again. And I’d been through a lot, I didn’t think there was any more that could go wrong – there was – but I was remaining positive.
“Fortunately, Tony trained me [over the weekend],” Hughes continued. “He even arranged some short-notice sparring at another gym, in Belfast. I stayed professional. It was tough again. Every couple of hours, I was like, ‘Go home, get the fight postponed, surely everyone will understand – visa issues and all that.’
“My wife was like, ‘Stay there until Monday, go to the embassy Monday, and hopefully they’ll get your passport.’ And they finally did.
“I showed up on Monday morning, got my passport and then I had to travel down to Dublin for the international flights.”
So Hughes sprinted out of the embassy, back to the hotel, grabbed his bags and jumped in an Uber. While he was in the car, a flight was booked. By the time he arrived at the airport, he had an hour to check in, make it through security and get on the plane.
Once in Dublin Airport, Hughes was instructed to go into another back room, where he again started to imagine the worst.
“At least it’s only Dublin,” he recalled thinking. “It’s a 40-minute plane ride and I’m back home. But I waited, and because it was on the system that I had recently been deported, I think they just wanted to check on the details.”
Then they gave Hughes his passport back.
“F*****g hell, I’m free,” he said. “Not the ideal preparation.”
Yet throughout, Hughes stayed focused on the job at hand and did his very best not to get derailed.
Nobody knows for sure how, if at all, Hughes’ travel nightmare turned out to effect the fight’s outcome. Prior to his crucial test against Zepeda, he was more stubborn than ever because of the journey experience, even though he knew he was up against it and wasn’t supposed to win.
Hughes remarked, “I feel like I’m mentally strong for what I’ve just had to go through.” “I can’t go through what I just went through with Zepeda.” I’m prepared right now. I’m back with my team now, and I’m ready to work on a job on Saturday. Everything is going well in my head see more…