By Keith Idec, photo by Ryan Greene

Gervonta Davis is completely comfortable with making his first title defense overseas.

Davis understood that it made more financial sense to travel to the United Kingdom to battle British contender Liam Walsh on Saturday in London. The boxing business is booming in England and when your promoter is the highest-paid boxer in the sport’s history, you tend to listen to his advice.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. broke down to Davis how he’d make more money for taking this fight to England and Davis agreed to do it.

“I believe it was the right business move, as far as getting me to the UK at this early stage in my career,” Davis said during a recent conference call. “It’s just giving the fans what they wanna see. I actually gathered a lot of UK fans after the [Jose] Pedraza fight [on January 14]. I think it’s a good chance. It’s good for me to fight in the UK. I fought overseas when I was an amateur, and now I’m going as a pro. I feel like it’s a great thing for me.”

The 22-year-old Davis (17-0, 16 KOs), who arrived in London on Sunday, will make the first defense of his IBF super featherweight championship against Walsh (21-0, 14 KOs) at a sold-out Copper Box Arena. That venue holds about 8,500 fans for boxing.

Their scheduled 12-round fight will be broadcast by Frank Warren’s Box Nation in the United Kingdom and by Showtime in the United States (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT). Warren, a prominent promoter in England for decades, represents Walsh.

“Me and Floyd made the decision,” said Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive officer for Mayweather Promotions. “We think it’s a wonderful opportunity. It’s a tremendous platform for him to be able to showcase his skills across the world. With him being a very, very young champion, I think he has an advantage.

“Working alongside with Floyd, someone who can explain to him what it’s like to go into hostile territory, what to expect coming into a big fight, all those little intangibles, you know, along with his hard work and preparation … I think he has a tremendous advantage. And he just has to go in there and stay focused, listen to his team and his corner, and get the job done.”

Baltimore’s Davis, the youngest American champion in boxing, is about a 4-1 favorite over Walsh, despite that the fight will take place in Walsh’s home country.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.