JOE Hughes felt in cruise control as he breezed to the first international title of his career in Bristol on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old, from Malmesbury, beat Georgian challenger Jaba Shalutashvili to claim the IBO international light-welterweight title at the Action Indoor Sports Centre, following up an unflinching and emphatic display with an eighth-round stoppage.

Hughes was expecting a stern test from his 26-year-old opponent, a veteran of 30 fights going in to the weekend’s clash, but getting his hands on the vacant IBO strap proved a walk in the park as the Malmesbury man claimed his 10th pro triumph.

“I was a bit surprised in the first round – I caught him with a body shot that I could tell really hurt him, and I tried to follow it up but just ran out of time,” said Hughes.

“I was shocked that I hurt him, to be honest. I knew he’d be a tough nut to crack. I thought I’d be more skilful than him but I thought he’d just keep coming and be tough.

“I caught him with that shot early and tried to follow it up there and then but he tucked up well.

“Then throughout the fight, he made sure that was covered all the time. He left himself open for the hooks to the head but he can take them to the head all day, I expect.

“I felt like I was just going at my own pace and I felt in control the whole time.

“He was moving to the right to get away from my left hand all the time and my right hand isn’t the strongest but I thought that I’d just keep throwing it and they were landing.

“In the last two rounds, my trainer (Andy O’Kane) said to me to just start putting on a bit more pressure and then I started to cut him off and if he wanted to get way, he’d have to go through my left hand to get away.

“That made the difference then. I didn’t know when it was coming but it wasn’t competitive at that point and he was taking shot after shot after shot and he wasn’t getting me with anything.”

Earlier in the night, Swindon journeyman Joe Beeden was bested by Frome’s Ryan Wheeler.

The 21-year-old lightweight was knocked down in the first round and eventually found himself on the wrong end of a 40-35 decision.