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On Saturday, at the bp pulse LIVE (formerly the NEC), Davies’s IBO super-bantamweight title – a generally unrecognised version of the world title – will be on the line.
Something has to give too as Davies and Shabaz both enter the ring boasting an unbeaten record as professionals – a far cry from when they first met back in their amateur days, as members of rival Shropshire clubs.
Davies, 28, began at Donnington Boxing Club, founded by his grandfather and run by his dad Tristan.
Shabaz, also 28, began at Wellington Boxing Academy, where the head coach is his uncle Mo Fiaz – and the club is still supported by Shropshire’s former world super-middleweight Richie Woodhall.
They fought twice as amateurs and Shabaz won both. Now Davies puts his record of 16 wins in 16 pro fights on the line with Shabaz, who has won 13 out of 13. And Davies also wants to clear up the small matter of local bragging rights.
“He’s beat me twice so of course I want revenge,” Davies told BBC Radio Shropshire. “I was in a bad place then but I’m a grown man now. That kid they fought back then would have never been in this position. Trust me, it’ll be a different fight this time.
“It’s been a long time coming. He’s known a lot of people in the area and to me, it’s just jealousy. They want to try and knock me down a peg but I come from the same place as them and if anything, they should respect me.”
“We boxed years ago. We were 15 or 16 – and I beat him,” recalls Shabaz. “Then we boxed again when we were 21 or 22 and I beat him again. So it’s time to put a beating on him again.”
Shabaz, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, won a national title as an amateur but his pro career has been stop-start, blighted by periods of injury and inactivity. But he is now signed to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom team and trained in Essex by Ben Davison, who has been Anthony Joshua’s corner and …
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