
Shabaz Masoud and Peter McGrail clash on June 21 in Birmingham
British rivals Shabaz Masoud and Peter McGrail will contest the IBO super-bantamweight title on June 21 at BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham.
Shabaz Masoud: record, next fight and profile →

British rivals Shabaz Masoud and Peter McGrail will contest the IBO super-bantamweight title on June 21 at BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham.

Tris Dixon catches up with Shabaz Masoud, the British super bantamweight who recently produced one of the performances against the year against domestic rival Liam Davies

After knowing exactly what to do with himself, and indeed his opponent, on Saturday night, there is a certain irony to the fact that Shabaz Masoud, less than 48 hours later, finds himself now all out of ideas.

What a difference a year makes. Last November, Shabaz Masoud was being given the big build. Ahead of his Matchroom debut against Colombia’s Jose Sanmartin, the slick junior featherweight was touted as not just a future world champion, but a future multi-weight world champion. Modern boxing is a fickle business and although Masoud escaped with a split decision victory after 10 lackluster rounds with Sanmartin, the pre-fight hype died down as quickly as it had ignited.

Save for being knocked out in round one, or badly injured, there aren’t many worse ways to lose than the way Liam Davies lost against Shabaz Masoud last night (November 2) in Birmingham. It wasn’t that the defeat was particularly punishing, or that Davies was humiliated, but more that the disparity in skill between the two unbeaten rivals throughout the 12 rounds they shared left Davies with more questions than answers.

Shabaz Masoud resisted some questionable judging to earn a split-decision victory over Liam Davies after producing the finest performance of his career

Years of rivalry will come to a head on Saturday night when super bantamweight rivals Liam Davies and Shabaz Masoud meet at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena.

Old amateur rivals Liam Davies (121.6lbs) and Shabaz Masoud (121.9lbs) made weight Friday ahead of tomorrow’s 12-round junior featherweight clash inside Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.

It is Monday lunchtime of fight week and Liam Davies is on his way to record a head-to-head interview with Shabaz Masoud, the man he defends his IBO junior featherweight title against on Saturday night.

Pick It: Robson Conceicao vs. O’Shaquie Foster II When to Watch: Saturday, November 2. The preliminary broadcast begins at 5:50 p.m. Eastern Time (9:50 p.m. GMT). According to a Top Rank spokesman, the co-featured bout (Raymond Muratalla vs. Jesus Perez) is expected to begin around 10 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. GMT).