Our tipster Simon Crawford believes the time is right for Liam Walsh to dethrone world champion Gervonta Davis this weekend.
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If you had been asked at the start of the year to name the British fighters who could potentially win a world title in 2017 then Liam Walsh's name may not have been mentioned.
That's no slur on the unbeaten British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion, more of an indication of how quietly but effectively he has gone about his business so far.
But now his chance to reach the top table has arrived as he challenges IBF world champion Gervonta Davis in London on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old southpaw - one of three professional fighting brothers - earned his shot after comprehensively outpointing Andrey Klimov last October and odds as big as 4/1 or more do little justice to his undoubted ringcraft.
Walsh (21-0, 14KOs) has mainly impressed at domestic level and holds solid wins over the likes of Paul Appleby, Scott Harrison, Joe Murray and Gary Sykes.
Despite some back luck with injuries, he has been brought along at a steady pace and although nine years older than the American champion he seems to be getting better with age and that is a massive positive for the Cromer man.
Walsh has genuine power, as a 67 per cent knockout ratio suggests, but I think his biggest asset is an astute boxing brain which allows him to adapt to any opponent’s style and means he can change gameplan whenever necessary.
But above all I feel that this fight has come at exactly the right time for Walsh who should be at the peak of his physical powers.
He is supremely confident and believes his experience will be a telling factor.
"I feel like I�������ve been in tougher fights than him," said Walsh. "I feel like I’ve been in longer fights. I think I have a better boxing IQ than him.
"He’s very powerful, very physical and very fast, but we haven’t seen him in a long fight or a dog-fight or a gruelling fight.
"I will certainly ask all these questions. I’ll do it any which way that it has to go. I’m more than confident I’ll get the job done."
Also a southpaw, Davis (17-0, 16KOs) is a protégé of former pound-for-pound star Floyd Mayweather who promotes him and big things are expected of the Baltimore native.
So far he is living up to the considerable hype which predictably surrounds him as he claimed the IBF strap in January by stopping Jose Pedraza in the seventh round, a man who had impressed British fight fans in his previous defence against Liverpool’s Stephen Smith.
It was certainly an unexpected victory, even more so the manner in which it was achieved. It was Davis’ biggest test and you can’t argue that he grasped it with both hands.
Yet they always say keeping a title is usually much harder than actually winning it in the first place, so I feel there could be some complacency in the Davis camp for this one.
He has stopped all but one of his opponents to date but apart from Pedraza and Cristobal Cruz (TKO3) there are no familiar names.
Looking even closer at his ledger, we will see Davis has never been beyond nine rounds and that is a concern.
Of course, he will have sparred 12 rounds and beyond countless times in the gym, but it’s different when it’s for real and so much is on the line.
The American has certainly not had it easy. Both of his parents were drug users and he spent much of his childhood either living in foster homes or with relatives.
But now under the guidance of superstar Mayweather, the future finally looks bright for the 22-year-old.
"It's been pretty good since winning the world title," said Davis. "I'm actually staying level headed, staying focused. Getting the world title is a step closer to where I want to be.
"Having a belt is cool, but I’m trying to do more in the sport. I want to be the next star of boxing. I want to do more in the sport. This is just one more step to me."
I believe Walsh is a boxer who has been overlooked for much of his career and it appears to be happening again.
Davis should be the favourite as he is the champion and his record is hard to argue with. But although I feel Walsh will have to weather some tricky moments and may even have to get up off the canvas, I do think he can prevail if he can take the fight into the championship rounds.
Until you have been there then you don’t know how your body will react and there is no doubt Davis will expend plenty of energy in the first half of the fight as I’m convinced he will look to try to use his power and claim a quick win.
It is also the first time he has boxed outside of the United States so there will be disruption to his usual routine and he will not have encountered a partisan British crowd before.
Davis had little to lose and eveything to gain when he fought Pedraza for the world title. But now the pressure is firmly on him and being part of the Mayweather stable could be heaping even more expectation on young shoulders.
Walsh has slight height and reach advantages which will help him fight on the outside, like he did for much of the time against Klimov, and it will be interesting to see what Davis does if he is unable to land one of his big bombs.
The Briton has proved in the past that you write him off at your peril and I think he will defy the odds in this one.
Roared on by his army of fans, I see Walsh edging a close points decision but at just over 4/1 in places merely to win what should be a cracking contest then the so-called underdog is well worthy of support.
Where to watch on TV: BT Sport/BoxNation
Posted at 1105 GMT on 19/05/17 .
