Round-by-Round: Liam Davies vs. Ionut Baluta | BT Sport - 19 November 2022

[brilo33]

Liam and BT getting a bit carried away here. Nobody has beaten Baluta that clearly it's true, but Brit/Euro level for at least another year.

yea but davies had the reach on him and should of won i dont think he is ready for world levels yet my opinion only young still i wouldnt rush it yet

[brilo33]

liam's a very good boxer but doesnt give me world class vibes tbh, if that' what theyre saying. i had him beating leach by like a point or two

yea agreed there mags and leach was just one of those awkward fights dont rate him as a class operator his fight with Bourke was tough , good win tonight for davies wouldnt rush anything

[Twinkle Toes]

Davies is still a relative novice, certainly as far as being a pro is concerned. Not sure why the big rush, he needs more seasoning. He's stepped up so far and he's adapted really well but no need to rush.

[Black Sam Bellamy]

Davies v Foster would be a decent fight next.

[skanksta]

Yeah we are all agreed - Good Brit fights next.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release | Liam Davies: “I've Conquered Britain, Europe - Now Let's Go For The World!”

BRITISH SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT champion Liam Davies added the European and WBC International titles to his ever-increasing CV by outclassing Ionut Baluta over 12 rounds in Telford.

Davies was the dominant force throughout the fight, pitching his tactics to perfection and frustrating the wayward Baluta, who simply couldn't effectively get himself into range.

The long jab of Davies worked overtime and he measured his distance to keep the Romanian out of range.. The Telford favourite was tidy and well drilled, while Baluta resorted to wild swings that rarely came close to the target.

The judges scores were perhaps tighter than anticipated, with the fight being scored 116-112, 118-110 and 117-111.

"It is amazing and another step up in my career," said the new double champion. "I am 13 fights in and I've won the English, the WBC, British and European titles. I've got to give myself credit, but I will be back in the gym soon and I've conquered Britain, I've conquered Europe and now let's go for the world with BT behind me. Why not?

"I felt comfortable all the way. I hurt my hands on his head, he's got a very hard head and I had a blister that bloody hurt moving about. But look, I got the job done, I done it in my home town as main event and I've got allegedly and all the team getting behind me.

"Look at all the people supporting me. Money can't buy that, memories for life.

"I was too comfortable at times and I cruised through the fight again. I don't think I've really been tested yet and I am ready for another step-up. I am ready to go up and up and up.

"I am levels above everyone else, I've dusted everyone in the British rankings and European rankings and I want these big fights. The sky's the limit and I want to touch the stars. I am ready for whatever."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Shouldn’t he defend his EBU belt a few times?

Also, Inoue will be moving up soon.

[maverick23]

Masoud is mandatory for the European I think. Would be a good fight. I saw a few suggesting Tete online. Would be a crazy decision at this stage.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[bripez]

Shouldn’t he defend his EBU belt a few times?

Also, Inoue will be moving up soon.

Yeah it's nuts, he has only had a dozen pro fights- and only 5 of them had winning records.

Being a romantic I would go for the Commonwealth title - a nice domestic fight for the full set.

Then have a handful of European title level fights, move up the rankings, stay fit in the gym and then maybe a surprise world title shot (but not before 20 fights i wouldn't have thought)

[keithmoonhangover]

I've got this bill recorded, anything worth watchin'?

[dookus]

people have been saying baluta's tired since the early rounds, hasnt stopped him from throwing non stop like a wild man

A bit like Billam-Smith, who also manages to look knackered from about round 4 while never letting up

[Dioufy]

Baluta is very hard to look good against. Davies did as good as a job as you’d expect; I had it 116-112 fairly comfortable.

He’s massive for super bantam so I wouldn’t t mind seeing him against Nick Ball potentially. He’s ranked top 10 on Boxrec worldwide and 1 in the UK so I wouldn’t mind seeing him step up against a Yafai or Tete and see what he’s got.

No point in defending his Euro belt against unknowns for me.

Yarde’s opponent come to fight but as soon as he felt the firepower his confidence just drained. A fight he got nothing from apart from practising his ring walk. Would definitely get more in sparring.

[margaret thatcher]

i think tete would smash him up, like he did to another well schooled but athletically basic european champ in cunningham. wouldnt match him with that one yet. beating leach (close fight) and baluta is nice but whatever it boost him to in the rankings i didnt see some special talent who should be moved to that level yet after 13 fights

someone like tj doheny would be more who i'd match him with. gamal as well as mentioned would be a good one, cunningham too. masoud looked really good recently at the same weight, maybe they'll fight down the line

[jam100]

Davies and Masoud were in the same amateur gym so some backstory to it as well along with both winning amateur titles.- same as his amateur fights with Andrew cain...some story to it. Politics would probably say though there in the more risk than reward category now though.

Being from Telford I'd like to see him progress to bringing some decent fight nights to the town but his young and hasn't been a pro for long (last to my knowledge he still had a full time job as well)

He brings a reasonable crowd so I would have thought Fwank would put him a few more euro defence international alphabets title fights over the next 12-18 months add a bit more experience and milk it a bit more so his both are earning reasonably well out of it. The TJ doheny fight wouldn't be sneared at I think and is a logical next step as it's a fringe world level boxer type to see how he gets on rather than a pressure type

Long term a step up in weight is probably where the money is...not suggesting his on the same levels by any stretch at this stage but conlan wood, Warrington would all bring big purses and everyone loves a high level domestic scrap when the times right

[margaret thatcher]

brad foster too, even though baluta beat him it's still a different type of fighter for liam to deal with. a number of solid fights for him in the good british to european range, no need to rush at 13 fights in