A cracking-looking battle of unbeatens tops the bill at Resorts World in Birmingham this Saturday, as Liam Davies makes the first defence of his IBO super bantamweight title against old amateur rival Shabaz Masoud.
TNT Sports televise live Davies vs Masoud in the UK, with Frank Warren and Queensberry on promotional duties.
Davies (16-0, 8 KOs) has come on in leaps and bounds in the past two years, beginning by winning the British title with a handy points win against Marc Leach in June 2022. The Telford man backed that win up by outscoring Ionut Baluta for the European crown five months later, and halted Jason Cunningham in a round in July last year to continue his momentum.
After stopping Vincenzo La Femina in five last November, Davies has been out once in 2024, stopping Erik Robles Ayala in two in March to take the vacant IBO crown that he defends this weekend.
Masoud (13-0, 4 KOs) defeated Davies twice in the unpaid code, and will look to complete a hat-trick here in the professional ranks. The Stoke-on-Trent ‘Maverick’ has only been out twice since a November 2022 twelfth and final round stoppage of Jack Bateson, firstly taking a ten round split decision against Jose Sanmartin last November.
In anticipation of his meeting with Davies, Masoud dropped Marvin Solano in the opening round of their July meeting, before winning all eight sessions.
Prediction: This could well be a technical affair, with both having their successes, but I lean towards the more seasoned Davies getting the win in their third meeting, likely clearly on points.
Cameron locks horns with Berghult.
The undercard features four ten rounders, headlined by former undisputed super lightweight world champion, Chantelle Cameron (19-1, 8 KOs). She takes on Patricia Berghult (17-1, 4 KOs) for the interim WBC title at 140 pounds.
Chantelle Cameron leads the, #DaviesMasoud undercard.
Defending her WBC interim world title, @chantellecam returns to Birmingham!
Tickets on sale here: https://t.co/aue6cqLUjq pic.twitter.com/SbJc29kTLH
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) October 2, 2024
Cameron had two thrillers with Katie Taylor in 2023, winning a majority decision before dropping one in the rematch, but a move to Queensberry saw a lacklustre debut, as she claimed another majority decision, this time against Elhem Mekhaled.
Berghult is a former WBC champion at super welterweight, but her sole defeat was a landslide one on the cards against Natasha Jonas in September 2022. She has won two low-key six rounders since.
Prediction: Cameron will want to impress here, and I don’t see Berghult causing too many problems. Cameron can come through widely on the scorecards.
Essuman, James and Taylor return to action.
Ekow Essuman (20-1, 8 KOs) is fresh off a thrilling last round stoppage of Owen Cooper to take the WBO European welterweight title in July, and he can take another unbeaten record here, defending against Ben Vaughan (10-0, 3 KOs), who has never been past six frames. Essuman via late stoppage is the pick.
Ethan James (12-1, 0 KOs) was defeated by Cooper in his last outing, retired after nine in March in Birmingham, but he can get back to winning ways here, taking his ten rounder at welterweight on points against Jermaine Osbourne-Edwards (11-0, 1 KOs).
At light heavyweight, Ezra Taylor (9-0, 6 KOs) can take a stoppage victory in his meeting with Latvian Kristaps Bulmeistars (12-2, 5 KOs).
This mindset from @EzraTaylor_ 👏💥#DaviesMasoud | Nov 2nd | bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham pic.twitter.com/5iRMZ4MO3V
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) October 22, 2024
The rest of the bill sees four round affairs.
Eoghan Lavin (2-0, 0 KOs) can win his middleweight meeting with Remi Scholer (4-12, 1 KO) on points, and at super flyweight, Bradley Thompson (5-0, 2 KOs) should get past Sean Jackson (0-25-1), on the referee’s card.
Also at super flyweight, Mykyle Ahmed (1-0, 1 KO) may need all four sessions to take the win against Yin Caicedo (10-24-4, 4 KOs), while heavyweight debutant Lewis Williams will also likely need the duration to get his hand raised against Lamah Griggs (3-9-1, 0 KOs).
