Liam Davies blows away Jason Cunningham inside first round to defend European super bantamweight belt

Liam Davies maintained his unbeaten record with a devastating first-round victory over Jason Cunningham on Saturday evening at the Telford International Centre.

The super bantamweight champions topped a card featuring some of the best talent in Britain.

Before the pair met, exciting 18-year-old Moses Itauma picked up his fourth career win as he took a 60-54 victory over his Argentine rival, Kevin Espindola.

Itauma is hoping to beat Mike Tyson’s record of eight wins without defeat by the time he turns 19.

Davies, 27, brought three straps to his fight: the EBU European, British and WBC International super bantamweight championships, while Cunningham put his WBO International super bantamweight title on the line.

At 33, Cunningham has suffered a few setbacks along the way, but in March this year at the same venue he defeated Miguel Gonzalez for his belt, while Davies was last in action in November 2022, when he defeated Ionut Baluta.

Davies is not known for his knockout power, boasting just five stoppages from 13 fights before this bout, but he showed that he had been working in the gym as he started, and finished, brutally.

It took just two and a half minutes for Davies to bring the fight to an unexpectedly swift close as he launched a flurry of blows that Cunningham was simply unable to resist, giving the referee no choice but to wave the fight off after two minutes 36 seconds.

With his undefeated record and two International belts, Davies might now consider himself a contender to face one of the world champions in the division.

Naoya Inoue’s brilliant performance last week saw him become unified champion with his victory over Stephen Fulton in Japan, but Davies will not be able to match the glory on offer from a potential undisputed clash against Marlon Tapales.

Speaking after the fight, Davies namechecked Tapales as in his sights, as well as Dennis McCann, with the young Briton winning the Commonwealth super bantamweight belt last year.

From inside the ring, Davies said: “I feel like I’ve got better as time has gone on. I’ve dedicated my life to boxing, giving it everything and now I’m reaping the rewards. But for me this isn’t enough, I want more, I want to bring a world title back to Telford.

“I know a world title fight is difficult at the minute but I’ll keep ticking over and now maybe I’ll fight Dennis McCann next if it’s there.

“People could say I’m not ready yet and I could understand that but I just want to prove that I’m ready. I want someone in the top five. My improvement is not questionable."

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