Liam Davies is living the dream

The unbeaten Davies enjoyed a points victory over Marc Leach at the Telford International Centre on Saturday night.

He dedicated the triumph to his late grandfather and visited his grave with the belt, as promised, yesterday morning.

“There has been a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication, and that made my night come together,” said Davies.

“I wasn’t going to let anyone take it away from me. I’ve put too much into it. I believed it was going to be my night, and I was right.

“I took the British title home. I have taken it to my grandad’s grave and seen my uncle with it, so it’s a very satisfying feeling. I’ve hardly had any sleep because I’m on cloud nine.

“I actually rang my nan in the day, before I got to the venue for the fight. I told her to go and get the flowers and everything as there was no way I was leaving that night without the British title.

“I told her I’d be picking her up in the morning. We arranged a time before the fight had even happened. So, I believed it and achieved it.”

The breathless bout, shown live on BT Sport, went the distance and saw Davies prevail by unanimous decision with scores of 118-111, 116-113 and 115-113.

On the undercard, fellow Telford fighter Raheem Muhammad moved to 2-0 with a points win at bantamweight against Stephen Jackson.

“He had his moments, but they were here and there. So, I was very confident I was ahead,” said Davies.

“The rounds that were close could have gone to me or him, and the rounds I won, I thought I won them by a wide margin as I’d hurt him. I was confident I’d won at the end of the fight.

“I’m just glad nobody took it away from me and the right winner won.

“I’ve watched it back, actually, and the commentary team said it was close.

“Richie Woodhall had me one point up in the end, but the rounds given to him were very close and I could’ve won them myself.

“I’m just glad the right winner won and I did the business.”

Davies, having dreamt of becoming British champion one day, does not plan to stop there.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m sure I’ll look back in years to come and be very pleased with what happened,” he added.

“It’s going to bring good nights to Telford, which is good for the town.

“My brother (Brad Thompson) is also on the come-up, so I’ve set a pathway for him to come through and do the same, which I’m sure he will in time to come. It’s all big nights for Telford, which is what I want. There are memories to be made.

“I’m happy, I know what I’ve done, but now I’m here, I want more. Now I’ve won the belt, I want to keep pushing on. Hopefully, I can get the European title and keep stepping up.”