Liam Davies bounces back from defeat with victory over Kurt Walker

Davies, 29, started the contest on the front foot, firing in stiff jabs to the guard of Walker and following it up with right hands to the body. It was evident that Davies had brought his power with him from 122lbs; his shots would thud off of the arms of Walker, who was visibly wary of the heavy-handed Davies.

Walker, 30, had a better second round. The traveling Irishman flicked his jab into the face of Davies and seemed to be dealing with the body shots better than in the first session. Walker too targeted the body in the third. The pair came together midway through the round and Walker landed four crisp shots to Davies’ midsection. Telford’s Davies responded well and landed a hard right hand to the ribs of Walker which brought a cheer from the crowd.

Davies then switched his attacks to the head, and midway through the fourth round narrowly missed with a right uppercut. The fifth was the most entertaining session so far. Davies landed a hard left to the body of Walker and the Irishman returned fire with a well-placed right hand. Walker struggled to keep Davies off of him, and in the sixth the Telford fighter started to pull away. Davies was outworking Walker, who was moving his head well but offering little in return.

The seventh followed a similar pattern, although late in the round Walker held his feet and landed a good left hand to the body of Davies. Davies landed a hard left to the head of Walker which seemed to momentarily daze his opponent, but the Irishman fought fire with fire and landed a good left of his own before the session came to a close. By the eighth round Davies’ power looked to have faded, but he was still outworking Walker with his volume. The Irishman just couldn’t seem to land anything telling on Davies, and when he did the shots seemed to bounce off of him.

Walker seemed as though he knew the fight was slipping away and pushed the pace in the tenth round. He outworked Davies and pushed the Telford fighter back to the ropes before landing a right hand over the top as Davies tried to hold. Walker started the eleventh brightly, again outworking Davies, but Davies finished strongly, throwing a flurry of shots before spinning away from danger. The twelfth and final round was an entertaining affair. Neither man took a backwards step and locked horns in the center ring. Walker threw everything he had at Davies, who also landed his fair share of punches, but it was the Irishman who edged the round.

Despite his late efforts, all three judges saw the contest in favour of Davies; Walker falls to 12-1 (2 KOs) after suffering his first defeat as a professional. 

Earlier, Owen Cooper picked up the biggest win of his professional career by defeating fellow domestic welterweight Chris Kongo. The contest was an entertaining one. Cooper, now  11-1 (4 KOs), pressed forwards while Kongo attempted to use his long levers to keep him off. Cooper’s pressure and work rate was ultimately the difference, and Cooper pipped Kongo, who fell to 17-3 (7 KOs), by a score of 96-94 on the referee Kevin Parker’s scorecard.

British, Commonwealth and European lightweight champion Sam Noakes picked up a stoppage win against Patrik Balaz in a runout. The difference in class between Noakes, now 17-0 (15 KOs), and Balaz, 13-5-1 (5 KOs), was clear from the off and it didn't take long for the unbeaten lightweight to break down his opponent.

Noakes dropped Balaz in the first round, but the stoppage came late in Round 3. Noakes pinned Balaz in the corner and landed a hard right uppercut on his opponent’s chin. Balaz seemed to complain about the shot before taking a knee and did not return to his feet for the full 10-count. The time of the stoppage was 2:17 of Round 3.

Olympic bronze medallist Charlie Senior made his professional debut at featherweight with a six-round shutout victory over Cesar Ignacio Paredes. Joe Tyers, Huey Malone and Harris Akbar also made a winning start to life in the pro ranks; all three picked up wins in four round contests. Nico Leivars, now 7-0-1 (1 KO), Joe Cooper, now 4-0, and Lewis Williams, now 3-0 (1 KO), all picked up points victories in their respective bouts.