Liam Davies may have started last week as part of an ensemble cast, but when Queensberry’s latest “Magnificent Seven” show was done and dusted, the unbeaten super bantamweight was the undoubted star of the show.
Davies turned in a virtuoso display and stopped Mexico’s Erik Robles in two exciting rounds.
Within the space of 16 fights, Davies, a 27-year-old from Donnington, U.K., has Hoovered up belt after belt and fought himself into world class.
One of the most impressive aspects of Davies’ rise has been the way he has attacked his opportunities. He doesn’t set out to pick his opponent’s pocket or do just enough to win; he sets out with the intention of dominating his opponents.
Over the past 18 months, Davies won the British title by outboxing the tricky Marc Leach and outclassed Romanian dangerman Ionut Baluta to claim the European belt. He then blew away domestic rival Jason Cunningham inside a round and followed that by hunting down and stopping Italy’s fiery and then-unbeaten Vincenzo La Femina.
After the knockout of Robles, Davies might just be British boxing’s most in-form fighter. He has certainly become one of its most exciting.
“I thought Liam really made a bit of a statement,” Frank Warren told Boxing Scene. “When you look at it, he’d had eight fights before he came to us. In the fights since, he’s won the British, European and International belts, and now he’s won the IBO belt. It’s only the fact that [undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya] Inoue’s out there, or I’d fancy him to beat absolutely any of the others out there.”
Although boxing fans can’t help but be excited by Davies’ progress, his success last weekend mustered barely a sentence in the British newspapers. Although his local news channels will probably carry pieces with him, Davies hasn’t yet broken through and been given the type of widespread recognition he deserves.
But wherever his next appearance comes – be it on the upcoming Queensberry vs. Matchroom “Five vs Five” show or elsewhere – Davies is on the verge of becoming a major attraction. He’ll soon be impossible to ignore.
Warren feels that Davies’ lack of mainstream attention is symptomatic of a modern sports media that is obsessed with big names and clickbait headlines, one that shuns fighters doing things the hard way and that prefers to jump on a bandwagon once it is already rolling.
“He’s actually a very, very good fighter,” Warren said. “I’m not saying he’s going under the radar, but if that doesn’t get people’s attention, I’m not sure what does.
“What’s pissing me off at the moment is that boxing just isn’t getting the media attention it should be getting. We have the heavyweights, and then nobody seems to care about anything else unless it’s the stupid stuff. There are kids out there who are really good fighters and who represent the sport well. Liam’s one of those.”