DAVIES MARCHES ON AS HEANEY BIDS FAREWELL

LIAM DAVIES HAS now proved himself as a genuine featherweight force to be reckoned with.

I was disappointed with the way his glorious run at super bantamweight came to an end against Shabaz Masoud. He was a long way off his best at the end of 2024 and got it all wrong against a smart operator. Then we found out that weight had become an issue.

It was a real pity because he had come so far at super bantam and leaving it until a defeat to reveal a problem meant entering into a rebuild at a higher weight. If you move up without taking a loss you carry up some advantages with you.

Now Liam is blitzing his way through the featherweights in much the same fashion as he was doing at 122lbs. He has already banked four title belts and his impressive run continued on Saturday when he successfully defended his European title against Nathaniel Collins.

This match had all the makings of a 50-50 scrap, but Liam was that bit sharper and spiteful against a natural featherweight and former British champion.

I think that Liam has now made up the ground at his new weight and can now push on towards the biggest honours. He is one of the most exciting fighters in British boxing and there will be a few featherweights who might not fancy the job against him.

Nathaniel will have to take stock and come back stronger. He has come unstuck a bit in his last couple of fights at a very high level, but Nathaniel is a quality fighter and he was building something special up in Scotland.

On Saturday in Birmingham we also bade a fond farewell to Nathan Heaney as a professional boxer. He couldn’t quite mark his exit with a win against Gerome Warburton after a good first few rounds, but Nathan is 37 now so is probably not quite as sprightly as he used to be!

From a personal point of view it has been an absolute pleasure dealing with and getting to know Nathan over the years. It is obvious to anyone who has met him why he enjoys the support of so many people.

Nathan loves his city and the people so much and I think the real joy for him has been representing them and creating his own bit of history for his home patch.

Nathan wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t hide his emotions, so I know exactly what this journey meant to him. Helping people like this achieve some of their dreams is the best part of my job and it creates memories that will not be erased.

Don’t be a stranger Nathan because the Queensberry welcome mat will always be there for you.

My congratulations go to Luke McCormack for winning the British super lightweight title in just his sixth fight against Kay Prospere. Luke can really crack on now and get to where his top talent takes him.

Also a big well done to Bradley Goldsmith, who forced a seventh round stoppage of Amir Abubaker in fine fashion to defend his IBF International middleweight title. Bradley has proved himself as one to watch at 160lbs and I am sure he will be rehoming a good few more title belts before too long.