It is now 27 and a half years since a Telford boxer fought in his home town on a Saturday night bidding to win a European title.
It worked out well for Richie Woodhall, who that night not only became European middleweight champion but went on to be world super-middleweight champion too.
Liam Davies might be a fair few pounds down at super-bantamweight but, at 26, he shares the same dream.
“One life, one shot, one opportunity,” Davies told BBC Radio Shropshire.
“Hopefully win the European title and then take over the world.
“I’m not pussyfooting about. I’m taking these big challenges.”
Davies got his chance of this Saturday night’s fight with Romanian Ionut Baluta thanks to winning the British super-bantamweight title against Marc Leach on points over 12 rounds in June.
A British title is the one that somehow eluded former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Woodhall back in the 1990s, when he reached world glory via the route of Commonwealth and European titles, missing out on the chance to ever fight for a Lonsdale Belt.
But Woodhall, now a boxing pundit with both the BBC and BT Sport, will be ringside at the Telford International Centre to see if Davies can become the first Shropshire boxer to win a European title since his brutal ninth-round knockout of Italy’s Silvio Branco at the Telford Ice Rink in February 1995, on the way to becoming WBC world super-middleweight champion in 1998.
“I’ll be working on the Davies fight for BT Sport this weekend,” Woodhall told BBC Sport. “And Liam has a great chance of winning.”
Davies, like his illustrious Shropshire predecessor, comes from a real boxing family.
His father, Tristan Davies, also fought professionally, holding the Midlands Area light-welterweight title. And his late grandfather, Brian Davies, ran the Donnington Amateur Boxing Club in Telford, where father Tristan still trains his son.
“The chance has come in my hometown again,” said Davies. “And we’ve sold a lot of tickets. But I don’t look at that as pressure. I just ride with it and see where the wheels take me.
“There’s plenty [who] don’t think I can do it. But they thought the same last time. That just motivates me and makes me want to do it even more, to prove people wrong.
“And I’m putting in the extra time in the gym. Pain is temporary but glory is forever.
“I want to fight in America. If I win this, I get into the top 10, eight of which are American – and there’s two world champions. I’d love a crack at one of them.”
‘My best opponent to date’
Davies goes for the vacant title against dual Spain and UK-based Baluta, who has lost only three of his 18 fights, of which four of the last five have been in England.
And, although he has obvious ambitions to go higher and build a better financial future for himself and his family [he gets married next March], Davies is taking it one fight at a time.
He is not afraid of getting his hands dirty to help pay the bills – and put food on the table. Davies has worked as a bin man and on the Ministry of Defence base at nearby Donnington. And he has the level-headed approach of a professional who has won every one of his 12 fights – and treats each opponent with respect.
“Baluta will my best opponent to date,” he said. “He’s ranked in the top 10 in the world and beat a former world champion in TJ Doheny.
“He’s been in there with good fighters and he’s been on a roll himself. He’ll be full of confidence too, but these are the fights I need to push me on.
“I could have picked an easy defence for my British title but I’m here to step up. I’m the type of fighter that needs the bit between his teeth. And I hope when I beat him I hope people remember and respect how good a fighter he is.”
Liam Davies was talking to BBC Radio Shropshire’s Mark Elliott
