Having feasted on the very best England has to offer, Shropshire schoolboy sensation Liam Davies mopped up against Wales and Scotland’s finest fighters over the weekend.
The 14-year-old, wearing an England vest for the first time, travelled north of the border and emerged from Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre with the Three Nations crown.
In layman’s terms, he’s now champion of Scotland and Wales as well as being the reigning England schoolboy titleholder.
Next for the Donnington boxer is a trip to Ireland where he’ll face their champion – and that will settle all arguments over who’s the best in the British Isles.
It’s a measure of the long shadow little Liam casts over the schoolboy scene at under 39 kilos that many saw Three Nations success as a foregone conclusion.
Yet Davies grabbed victory in his first bout, on Friday, by a whisker – on the computer scoring system, at least. He emerged a 5-4 winner over Scottish champ Jack Brunton (Danbrath), after trailing 1-0 at the end of the first round.
Brunton, who had lost two of 10 bouts, fought hard, but walked into jabs and was caught by classy combinations in the last.
Donnington boss Brian Davies said: “There wasn’t a point where we thought Liam was going
to lose. It was quite comfortable, despite how the computers had it.
“That was pretty much the way it was throughout the tournament – by and large, the right lad got the decision, but the scores were too close. Brunton was a talent, but didn’t have the experience.”
Liam’s anticipated clash with the Welsh champ failed to materialise when he was surprisingly out-scored by Scotland’s Calvin McCord.
That win earned McCord the dubious honour of facing Davies on Saturday for the title.
Earlier this year McCord lost to Brunton in the Scottish schoolboy finals, and Brunton had failed to budge Davies.
The significance of that sequence of events had not been lost on McCord, who seemed to elect a safety-first approach against Liam.
McCord (GBS), who had lost 10 of his 24 career contests, was trailing 1-0 after the second and lost a fairly low-key affair 2-0.
Coach Davies, who is Liam’s grandfather, admitted afterwards: “Seeing them wave the flags at the end and sing Rule Britannia brought a bit of a lump to my throat.”
by Mike Lockley