Liam Davies-Shabaz Masoud gets the go-ahead for Nov. 2 in Birmingham

Telford’s Liam Davies will fight Shabaz Masoud on Nov. 2 at the BP Pulse Live in Birmingham, England, it was announced Thursday.

At stake will be Davies’ IBO super bantamweight title, although that is merely a fringe “world” title currently held by a man with the ability to go a further and win bigger and better honours in the future.

The path to achieving that continues on Nov. 2 when Davies meets Masoud, a fellow unbeaten super bantamweight with plenty of ambition of his own.

Davies, 16-0 (8), has truly dazzled so far as a pro. Since beating Marc Leach in 2022 to win the British super bantamweight title, he has been on quite the run, outpointing Ionut Baluta in a thriller, stopping Jason Cunningham inside a round, Vincenzo La Femina in five, and Erik Robles Ayala in two. These results have delivered Davies not only the British belt, but also the European, a couple of international baubles, as well as the aforementioned IBO strap. At 28, he is now itching to make that next step.

Masoud, meanwhile, has perhaps not enjoyed the same level of attention and fanfare as Davies but has been every bit as productive. Also 28, he is currently 13-0 (4) as a pro and rose to prominence with an impressive final-round stoppage win against Jack Bateson, another unbeaten fighter, in 2022. He has since that fight outpointed Jose Sanmartin over 12 rounds and Marvin Solano, a journeyman, over eight. Other notable wins on Masoud’s record include a 10-round decision over dangerman Diego Alberto Ruiz and a fourth-round stoppage of former English flyweight champion Louis Norman.