Nina Hughes: WBA champion unconcerned by Australia title defence

Nina Hughes will fight on the Vasiliy Lomachenko v George Kambosos card in Australia

Nina Hughes is confident of overcoming any obstacle to retain her world bantamweight title after a long-awaited fight date was finally confirmed.

The 41-year-old from Essex will face Cherneka Johnson on 12 May, but will have to travel to Australia to do so.

Hughes will also have to contend with an unfamiliar morning fight time.

"It's going to be about 3 o'clock in the morning UK time, about 10 in the evening American time and about 10-11 in the morning Perth time," she said.

"Normally we fight at night time but it's on in the morning Perth time for American prime time TV.

"We're trying to work out how to set the body clock when we get out there."

WBA champion Hughes won the title in only her fifth professional fight by outpointing previously unbeaten American Jamie Mitchell in Dubai in November 2022.

But she has had only one contest since then, beating fellow Britain Katie Healy at Wembley last June.

"It's been hard because I thought I'd be boxing late last year, I was told October, then November, then December," Hughes told BBC Essex.

"You're training like half in a camp. You have to be prepared because they've given you a rough date and none of the fights ended up materialising, so it has been stressful but we kept chipping away until we finally got that fight date."

She was hoping for a reunification fight but will instead take on Johnson, who was outpointed by Ellie Scotney on that same Wembley bill in a challenge for the IBF super-bantamweight belt, a weight class higher.

Although born in New Zealand, Johnson represented Australia as an amateur and has a pro record of 15 wins and two defeats since her debut in 2016.

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Despite her home advantage, Hughes insists she is unconcerned.

"Obviously people like to have a hometown advantage but that sort of thing doesn't faze me, I won my world title in Dubai so I'm looking forward to the experience, going over there, showing why I'm world champion and keeping that belt," she added.

"If it was America we'd only go for a week but obviously because of the distance and the time it takes to travel there we're having to go two weeks before to acclimatise, get over the jet lag and train out there."