Telford's Liam Davies: I’ve done Masoud a favour by rescheduling
Liam Davies claims to have done Shropshire rival Shabaz Masoud “a favour” by withdrawing from their IBO super bantamweight world title fight.
The unbeaten pair were scheduled to meet this Saturday at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena but the bout will now be rearranged after Telford’s Davies, who holds the IBO crown, was forced to pull out due to illness.
Masoud, who lives in Stoke but trained at Wellington Boxing academy as an amateur, will now take on Marvin Solano over eight rounds, with Davies telling his rival to make the most of it.
“In my head, I have done Shabaz a favour,” said Davies. “He gets a little run out fight and then he has the big dog, we are just waiting on a new date now.
“I would like him to get a good knockout the first combination, like ten, ten. His last fight wasn’t great.
“I wish him all the best in this. I hope he looks good and then, unfortunately, he has got me.”
Davies lost twice to Masoud as an amateur but has excelled in the pro ranks, winning all 16 of his contests and picking up the British and European titles along the way.
He hopes a victory over Masoud, who is unbeaten in 12 pro fights, would be another step toward a shot at undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.
Explaining his reason for pulling out, Davies said: “I picked up a virus. I thought after a week I would be alright but it just went on.
“After about nine days I thought something wasn’t right and went to hospital. They put me on antibiotics and told me I needed to rest. It just put me too far behind with the training.”
