DAVIES TOPS IN TELFORD | Frank Warren

LIAM DAVIES IS the new British super bantamweight champion following victory over Marc Leach in his home town, becoming Telford’s first British champion.

In what was a first defence for Leach, who took the vacant title by defeating the previously unbeaten Chris Bourke, he found himself on the canvas courtesy of a big right hand just one minute into the fight.

Against this, a full facial collision left Davies with a nasty gash at the top of his nose.

The confident Davies had the upper hand across the majority of the first two thirds of the fight and always seemed to have the power to trouble the champion. However, Leach did rally and came back into it as the fight closed in on the championship rounds.

Davies, now 12-0, safely saw it through to a unanimous decision of 116-113, 115-113 and 118-111.

Ijaz Ahmed and Kaisy Khademi had yet another close encounter that was scored a majority draw on the cards. The British super flyweight title remains on the market.

Both fighters were genuinely convinced they had won and both of them insisted afterwards that there would not be a fourth fight between them and they would move on.

Birmingham’s Ahmed made all the running with the Londoner keeping his distance and attempting to pick off his rival. Referee Michael Alexander docked Khademi a point in the ninth round for repeatedly offending at keeping hold of his opponent.

The scorecards read 115-112 IA 114-113 KK and 114-114. These two will need extra time and penalties if they do, ultimately, decide to play it again.

Eithan James didn’t get the big title fight he was banking on due to the withdrawal of Connor Parker, but he got a good eight rounds of work under his belt with a comfortable victory over Lee Connolly. The super lightweight starlet from Northampton wowed his considerable support with a 80-72 win on the card of referee Kevin Parker and is now 9-0 on his pro record.

Liverpool lightweight Callum Thompson continued his professional rise with a comprehensive defeat of the tough Jordan Ellison. The 23-year-old is proving himself a prospect of great promise with great shot selection and referee Shaun Messer scored it a 40-36 shutout despite Ellison becoming busier in the fourth. Thompson moves to 4-0.

Super welterweight Amaar Akbar slipped through the gears to outwit the Senegal southpaw Matar Sambou over four rounds. Referee Shaun Messer scored the fight 40-36 in favour of the Batley favourite who was roared on by a bumper contingent from his hometown.

Crumlin lightweight Willo Hayden continued to impress with an opportunity to shine in front of the cameras and the 20-year-old eased his way past the threat of Engel Gomez to make it 4-0 on his pro record.

Hayden didn’t have it all his own way against the game Gomoz but it was he who delivered the classy work and the telling shots, resulting in a 40-36 shutout on the card of referee Kevin Parker.

In the earlier fights not part of the BT Sport broadcast, Willy Hutchinson announced himself as back in business with a stoppage victory over Karel Horejsek. The Czech didn’t emerge for the fourth round and Hutchinson took his record to 14-1 in rejoining the light heavyweight ranks.

Bantamweight Raheem Muhammad doubled his win tally and made it two wins from two as he found his way past Steve Jackson. The Telford man was triumphant by a margin of 59-56 on the scorecard.

Muhammad Ali moved himself to 4-0 as a pro with a dominant display over Brayan Mairena in a super featherweight six-rounder. The 2016 Olympian from Bury won by 59-56.

Light heavyweight Ezra Taylor extended his record to 3-0 by overwhelming the Bulgarian Veselin Vasilev with a third round stoppage. The 27-year-old from Nottingham now has two KOs from his three professional fights.

Destructive welterweight George Bance opened the evening with a typically robust performance to overcome Richard Helm over six rounds. The 19-year-old from Atherstone is now 4-0 with his 59-57 victory.