Former British and European champion Liam Davies is back in action on Saturday night as he makes the first defence of the IBO super bantamweight title.
Davies claimed the title by overcoming Erik Robles at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham earlier this year and returns to the same venue for his showdown with the unbeaten Shabaz Masoud.
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Davies can keep perfect record intact
Davies and Masoud both come into this bout with unbeaten records as the defending champion is 16-0 and the challenger has compiled a 13-0 run.
However, Davies has faced a far higher standard of fighter over the course of his career and his last five opponents have had a combined record of 93-11-1, while this is a big step up for Masoud and his last fight came against Marvin Solano, who had lost 11 consecutive fights prior to their meeting.
To add a bit of further intrigue to this contest there is a long-standing rivalry between Donnington native Davies and Stoke’s Masoud.
The duo met twice as amateurs and ‘Maverick’ beat Davies in both of those bouts, but they have followed different paths as professionals and Davies comes into the bout as a deserved favourite.
The 28-year-old’s last six fights have all been for titles at various levels, while Masoud has never even contested a regional belt – let alone a British, European or world level strap.
Masoud has passed every test he has faced and an upset certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility but Davies clearly looks the more likely victory after a string of impressive displays.
Davies outboxed Marc Leach and then Ionut Baluta to win the British and European titles respectively, stopped Jason Cunningham inside a round, recovered from a knockdown to stop Vincenzo La Femina before annihilating Erik Robles in the second round to land the then vacant IBO belt. Masoud just hasn’t got anything like that on his CV and Davies should be able to avenge those two amateur defeats by triumphing on Saturday.
Davies can continue stoppage streak
Davies has eight knockouts in his 16 wins but his power has improved as he has risen up the ranks and his last three wins have all come inside the distance, with all of those victories coming in the first half.
Cunningham hadn’t been stopped since 2017 until he came up against Davies last year and he was blown away inside the first round. Robles was on a nine-fight winning streak and he was stopped in the second, while La Femina went into their bout with a 13-0 record (7 KOs) and managed to send Davies to the canvas in the third round but was still stopped in the fifth.
Masoud has never really been dragged into any kind of trouble so is a bit of an unknown quantity here, but Davies’ recent results indicate he could record an early finish.
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