IF JOE Hughes holds a St George’s belt aloft next month, he’ll have fully earned the right to do so this time around, with the Malmesbury fighter finally set to clinch a shot at the English light-welterweight title.

In October last year, Malmesbury’s Hughes stopped Philip Bowes at London’s O2 Arena to win the Southern Area title and with the appropriate strap unavailable on the night, the 24-year-old celebrated with an English belt.

Hughes (11-1) was due to defend his IBO International super-lightweight belt at the Bath Pavilion on July 18, in a show postponed from June 12, but the landscape shifted this week and he is expected to get his shot at the English title against Londoner Ryan Taylor (10-3-1) instead.

Hughes was the mandatory challenger and had been sanctioned for a bout with holder Tommy Martin as the British Boxing Board of Control put the contest out for purse bids, but none were accepted.

Although the Cambridgeshire youngster’s promoters Matchroom Sport are still calling him the English light-welterweight champion, the board’s website states that the title is vacant.

Hughes’ trainer and manager Andy O’Kane has petitioned the board to secure his charge the fight he has chased for years and the Hughes-Taylor bout is likely to be sanctioned on Wednesday, July 8, when the board next meets.

“I don’t know why Tommy Martin is vacating the belt – maybe he didn’t want to fight me or wanted to do down a different route – but as soon as we found out, my manager got straight on to the board to get them to let me fight for it,” said Hughes, who trains at Paddy John’s Gym in Bristol.

“The board don’t like their titles to be vacant and I was the mandatory, so I’ll be fighting for the English title in Bath now and I’ll be the home fighter.

“I’m really happy with it and I’ve got to make sure that I do the job. Training has gone really well and I’m excited about it.

“I don’t know much about the kid I’m fighting but I know that he got to the semi-finals of Prizefighter the year that I was the reserve (in 2013) and he’s fought for the Southern Area title at lightweight.

“I’ve wanted to fight for the English title for a long time and if I don’t win this one, then it could be a year or even more before I get another shot at it, so I’ve got to do the job on the night.”