By Matt Bozeat
BOXING DAY at Donnington Ex Servicemen’s Club in chilly Telford and five people sit in the bar watching the boxing from Japan on television. “This time next year we could be there,” says one. “That would be good, wouldn’t it?”
Tristan Davies, Any Mack, Simon Baverstock and Bradley Thompson all nod. Liam Davies could take them there with him.
“I would be jumping for joy if the call came (to fight world super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue),” said the 27-year-old British and European champion. “I know people say he would knock me out, but if someone offers you the chance to fight the best in the world at your weight, you do.
“What a memory that would be, fighting the best in the world in Japan with my dad (Tristan) and brother (Bradley Thompson) in the corner.
“It would be a great fight for as long as it lasted. I think a lot of fighters show him too much respect and just try to survive. I would go there and throw the kitchen sink at him. I would either end up on my arse or come home to England with a suitcase of belts. It’s worth the risk.”
Other risks Davies has taken have paid off. Not all fancied he’d beat either Marc Leach or Ionut Baluta, for the British and vacant European titles respectively, and got past both in a breakthrough 2022.
“I fought two different styles in 50/50 fights and came through both,” said Davies. “Last year showed how much those helped in terms of belief and confidence.”
The Davies who beat Leach and Baluta boxed a long, disciplined fight, picking his moments, while the 2023 version was more destructive. Davies jumped all over veteran Jason Cunningham and stopped him inside a round before a fifth-round stoppage of Italy’s Vincenzo La Femina in Manchester last November.
Davies was on the floor for the first time in his 15-0 career against La Femina, a flash knockdown in the third that came when Liam went for the finish after dropping the Italian earlier in the round. Davies had La Femina over again with the last punch of the fourth and an unanswered 12-shot salvo brought the stoppage in the next.
“It was a great fight for the fans,” said Davies, who married Samm last year. “I made a few mistakes and that made it good to watch. For the viewers it was probably my best fight so far. I showed a different side to my boxing. I’m becoming the full package.”
Next could be a match with Erik Robles, the Mexican. Davies, who spoke to Boxing News while at a training camp in Tenerife, acknowledges Robles has a good profile in the UK after he upset Lee McGregor in front of the Channel Five cameras in Edinburgh last July.
There’s also the possibility of a match with Dennis McCann, the confident southpaw from Maidstone southpaw who suffered a blip last August when held to a technical draw by Baluta at the York Hall.
McCann said in a recent interview that he hopes to fight for the British title next and Davies said: “If he wants the British title, I’ve got it. I’m not willing to give anything up. I’m not saying that out of spite. I think they are hoping I will give it up.”
There’s also the possibility of a rematch with Baluta. The Romanian has been made mandatory for the European title having upset Liverpool’s Andrew Cain – on a desperately close split – and drawn with McCann since Davies outboxed him for the vacant belt on a memorable night at Telford International Centre in November, 2022.
“Everyone seems to have a bad night against me for some reason,” said Davies. “I saw an interview where he said he was ill, but if he was that ill, why did he show up?
“I feel I’m better now and maybe we will run it back. I don’t pick and choose my opponents. I just say where, when and how much and the leave the rest up to my dad and my manager (Errol).”
Tristan Davies also fought out of Johnson’s stable as a pro.
He had 110 amateur bouts, reaching the 2001 ABA lightweight final where he was beaten by Stephen Burke and the following year, he beat Rendall Munroe in the Midlands final before turning over in 2004. A polished boxer, Tristan’s 14-1 pro career peaked with winning the Midlands Area lightweight championship and he might have achieved more had he not suffered with cuts.
“Dad had plastic surgery,” said Liam, but even that didn’t solve the problem and Tristan turned his attention to coaching. “I have always been in and around boxing,” said Liam.
“My granddad (the late Brian Davies) ran the gym and dad was training. I was always going to amateur shows and they put on a show the week after my 11th birthday because I was so desperate to have my first fight. I won my first two, then boxed someone who was 7-0 and got bladdered!
“Granddad used to say: ‘It matters most when you’re older.’”
Davies won bronze at the 2010 European Schoolboy championship – “I lost 1-0 to an Azerbaijani,” he remembered – and when he was older, he reached the Elite bantamweight finals in 2016 and 2018.
He missed out on boxing Peter McGrail in the 2016 final after suffering a fractured eye socket when beating No. 2 seed Charlie Kenny in the last four and Bradley Strand outpointed him in the final two years later.
Davies reached the latter final when boxing for Kings Heath ABC in Northampton after switching clubs. Liam admits he struggled to deal with the loss of his grandfather in 2011, when Liam was a teenager.
“From a young age I spent a lot of time with my granddad,” said Davies. “We went to boxing shows up and down the country with him singing ABBA in the car! Those memories will stay with me forever. How much I wish he was still here now. This all started with my grandad and my dad and it’s shit how he isn’t here now.
“Dad took over the gym and it took a bit of getting used to. I wasted a few years, being a teenager, saying I don’t want to do it anymore. Dad kept me in it, but there were a lot of arguments, a lot of stern words said. I have grown up a bit since then.”
Davies turned over in 2018, remembering: “I was on a ticket deal. I have been lucky because I’ve always had family and friends who have supported me. I have always been able to get on the shows and make a few hundred quid.”
He got to 7-0 on the small-hall circuit while also working as a binman before the call came to fight Liverpool southpaw Sean Cairns for the vacant English bantamweight title in November 2020.
“I was offered the fight at 18 days’ notice and had to make 118lbs,” said Davies. “Dad said: ‘You only get so many opportunities…”
Davies took his opportunity and forced Cairns to retire after six, leading to appearances on shows in his home town and a deal with Queensberry.
He blitzed Stefan Slavchev and Raymond Commey in two rounds apiece and then pulled away to outbox Dixon Flores over 10 at 122lbs after trading punches with him early on. Davies was forced out of a fight with Andrew Cain with a shoulder injury and went on to challenge Salford southpaw Marc Leach for his British title in June 2022.
That night, Davies wore ‘Joffy’ on his shorts, in memory of his late uncle Jonathan Pickering, who died aged 36.
“He was a big believer in me,” said Davies. “He always supported me. I used to go and watch him play football when I was a kid. I only went for the chip butties afterwards and I must have been a pain!
“I used to talk to him a lot and he used to say: ‘It will happen if you work hard.’ He was a very good footballer and played at Wembley, but when he got to 18, he started going out with his friends.”
Davies has stayed in the gym and says watching Marlon Tapales last into the 10th round with Inoue on Boxing Day gave him a few clues of how to tame ‘The Monster’.
Davies, who has Terence Crawford above Inoue in his pound-for-pound lists “because of the way he beat (Errol) Spence,” said: “Tapales did frustrate Inoue and in my book he won a couple of rounds.
“Tapales made him miss and looked comfortable. He was boxing, keeping it long and made it awkward for Inoue, until Inoue got to him.”
Davies fancies he could do more than “make it awkward” for ‘The Monster.’
“I’m big, strong, a good boxer – and I believe in myself,” he said. “I give myself a chance against anyone at 122lbs – including Inoue.”