Featherweight boxer Nathaniel Collins will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat in his last bout when he takes on Liam Davies next weekend.
The Glasgow based fighter will take on the Englishman at the BP Pulse Live arena in Birmingham on Saturday 26th September hoping to take the European belt off his opponent.
The clash represents an immediate opportunity to place his name back in world-title conversation following the first defeat of his professional career which happened back in April.
The split decision defeat against Cristobal Lorente following the full 12 rounds was a cruel blow for Collins in front of his home crowd at the Hydro.
Apart from it being his only loss, it was a WBC eliminator fight meaning the Barcelona boxer will go on to compete for the for the WBC title.
But, rather than taking fights against lower level opposition to climb his way back up the world rankings, Collins has chosen a difficult assignment against the reigning European champion.
Davies’ impressive record
Liam Davies holds a record of 18(w) – 1(L), including nine stoppages. The Englishman has won British and European belts across numerous weight divisions and previously held the IBO super-bantamweight world title.
His only defeat handed to him by the incredibly gifted southpaw Shabaz Masoud back in 2024.
The 30-year-old moved up to featherweight after and was able to string together an impressive run of victories leading to him capturing the European title with an impressive knockout victory over Italian contender Francesco Grandelli in March.
Grandelli provides a fascinating link between the two fighters.
Collins was victorious over the Italian by a hard fought decision in 2024 in which he fought through a broken nose in early rounds to big up a competitive but clear result against the Italian.
In contrast, the Telford fighter produced a far more decisive result, forcing Grandelli to retire after six rounds earlier this year.
That comparison of performances is a factor to Davies entering as the clear favourite, although comparing performances against an opponent doesn’t usually reflect how fighters will match up head to head.
The Scotsman, who’s also 30 has a similar record with 17 wins including eight KOs
and one defeat.
Sparring partners
Collins and Davies are far from strangers as they have previously shared rounds in sparring, giving both men first hand knowledge of how their title fight counter parts operate in the ring.
But as we know, sparring sessions takes place away from the pressurised environment of an arena and cannot perfectly predict the result of a professional fight.
Davies will hold a noticeable advantage in his height and reach; he fights from an orthodox stance and has shown an ability to control opponents from range.
While Collins is a smaller southpaw who strengths lie in his fast starts to fights, sustained pressure and sudden attacks to close the distance.
His ability to move inside Davies’s longer punches without taking unnecessary damage could determine the
outcome.
The bookies favour Davies. He’s generally priced between 1/4 and 3/10 – giving him between a 76 and 80 percent chance of winning, while Collins can be backed at around 3/1 or 10/3 making the Scot the overwhelming underdog.
A poll on boxing site Tapology, at the time of writing had 88 per cent of voters in favour of a Davies win.
The two will go head-to-head in the highly anticipated weigh-in on Friday at around tea time. And fans can watch the tie on Dazn Sports.
