Maxi Hughes insisted that training camp was going great all week long, ahead of his lightweight fight with William Zepeda on Saturday. Before the biggest night of his life, he kept the past two weeks of experiences hidden from himself.
On Monday, March 4, Hughes’ birthday, he took a flight from London Heathrow to the United States. However, after an 11-hour flight, he had to return to the United Kingdom because of a visa difficulty.
Hughes felt he would be fine, having boxed George Kambosos in Oklahoma last July. But he was pulled into an office upon landing in Las Vegas and then put straight on a flight back home, with the rest of his team waiting for him in arrivals back in the U.S.
Hughes kept it all quiet during fight week, as he did not want to give Zepeda’s team confidence ahead of the fight.
“I flew out on my birthday – last Monday, March 4 – and in Oklahoma we were there for two weeks,” Hughes said. “We had a gym lined up, we had sparring partners over here [in Las Vegas] to finish my last week of training.”
When negotiating the contract for the Zepeda fight, Hughes, 34, had asked lawyers whether he was still OK to fight on his previous ESTA (a U.S. Department of Homeland Security travel authorization) from the Kambosos fight or if he would need another visa.
When asked if he was on a business or pleasure trip, Hughes replied that he was on the former, and he was led into a room to go over his paperwork.
“You have the incorrect visa,” the man at the desk remarked. “You’re heading back on the same plane you came on,” Hughes declared.
“I said, ‘You’re kidding,'”
“You need to get back on that plane,” he continued. You’re going to be sent away.
“Why don’t you talk to a lawyer?”
“No, give your cell phone to me,” he said.
Hughes was searched in a cell and had his phone and passport confiscated. He remarked, “You’d think I was smuggling drugs or something.”
“I took an eleven-hour flight, spent an hour at the airport in Las Vegas, and then got back on the plane.”
“They were unable to allow I was unable to tell anyone because I had my phone with me. Sean O’Hagan, my trainer, and the rest of the squad were waiting for me. My phone was ringing nonstop behind the counter, and I thought, “See, that’s my team.” Permit me to talk to them, please.
Hughes was told, “No, you can call them when you get back on the plane.”
Hughes remarked, “The airline manager could see I’d lost my head.” “My dream’s over—it’s just been taken away from me,” I was thinking as they walked me into the plane, and I was genuinely crying. However, I thought, “Regroup, regroup.” I’ll purchase the in-flight wifi service, send out emails to everyone, and we can attempt to resolve this.
“I’m sorry, but our wifi is down for this flight,” the air hostess responded in response to my question about the wifi password.
“I was able to contact Sean, provide him with the hotel details, and advise him that I had been deported. When you arrive, we’ll resolve the issue.
I then succeeded in calling my wife. I said, “Look, I’ve been deported. I need you to phone [promoter] Lou [DiBella] and explain what’s happened,” at six in the morning British time. She was crying by this time. I started crying more after that, and I spent the next ten hours not online.
After arriving back at Heathrow, Hughes made a phone call, booked a hotel near the airport, began collaborating with immigration attorneys, and endeavored to bring his dream back to life. He waited for an appointment at an American consulate.
Fortunately, I managed to hold onto my head,” remarked Hughes. I managed to work out at the hotel’s fitness center, maintained a professional diet, and ate only clean food. However, there were moments when I felt like giving up and taking the next train home, delaying the battle because this wasn’t the best way to prepare. All I want to do is close the door on the outside world and see my wife and children.
Hughes’s luck finally turned around nine days before the battle.
The phone kept ringing, and then on Thursday I received a call informing me that I had an appointment with the [embassy] on Friday morning in Belfast at nine o’clock, so I needed to head to the airport. The next flight to Belfast is yours. Call us when you get there.since we need to get you ready for this interview you have.
After sparring James Tennyson in Belfast a few years prior, Hughes contacted Belfast Kronk’s Tony Dunlop. That Thursday night, while in Vegas with his crew, Hughes was able to train in boxing in Northern Ireland.
Eight days in advance of the Zepeda fight, on Friday morning, Hughes went to the U.S. embassy to try to get his visa arranged so that he could fly into Vegas that Saturday – with only a week to get settled.
“They said, ‘Leave it with us, wait around and you can pick it up today,’” Hughes said.
He was told the process was looking good, but as the day wore on, Hughes didn’t hear anything back. The embassy was due to close at 4.30 p.m. for the weekend, so at 3 p.m. he went back.
“They were working on it, and then I saw they were ringing me, and I was excited,” he said.
“No, sorry,” Hughes was told. “Unfortunately the machine’s not working, we can’t get it done.”
“And I broke down crying again,” Continues in part 2
Click here to read the end of the story…