Cain and Davies set to reignite their amateur rivalry
Undefeated knockout artist Andrew Cain (7-0, 6KOs) lands the fight he has been calling for against reigning English bantamweight champion Liam Davies (10-0, 5KOs), originally set for Saturday, October 9 in Birmingham, although the championship contest is likely to be postponed to a later date due to illness.
Everton Red Triangle teammates Nick Ball (13-0, 6KOs) and Jack McKinlay (2-0) are also appearing on the same show, headlined by Brad Foster vs Jason Cunningham, promoted by Queensberry Promotions and broadcast live on BT Sport.
Trained by Paul Stevenson, five-time national amateur champion Andrew Cain called for the showdown with Liam Davies for the English title as soon as stepped out of the ring after his last fight on April 30.
Cain had stopped all six of his opponents until he met Manchester’s Stephen Jackson (1-1, 1KO) and was taken to the final bell for the first and only time of his pro career, and looked sensational as he hunted down the winning fighter for the full 12 minutes of the four-round contest at the York Hall in London on the undercard of Sunny Edwards’ world title win over long-reigning IBF flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane, live on BT Sport.
The 25-year-old from Liverpool was happy to hear the news that he had landed the fight he had been wishing for. Speaking from his Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool, Cain said, “I’m happy yeah but it’s just another step to where I’m going, so I don’t even look at it as a big fight to be honest.”
Cain and Davies have a long-standing rivalry that dates back over six years ago to the amateurs. The pair have met three times previously with Cain coming out on top every time.
Cain doesn’t believe the earlier hattrick of wins gives him any kind of added advantage going into this next fight, however, “No, not really; I said it in an interview that I wanted Liam Davies, but that was just to make it happen. I beat the kid three times in the amateurs, but that could work in his favour. We were teenagers then but we’re men now.”
Donnington’s Davies won the English strap by retiring Sean Cairns in the sixth round after a punch-perfect performance to open the Conor Benn vs Sebastian Formella November 2020 Sky Sports show. Since then, he has had two keep-busy fights with journeymen, in June and August this year, which both ended via second-round knockouts, so he enters into his maiden English title defence on top form off the back of three straight stoppage wins.
Cain’s style of boxing is very exciting as he aggressively thunders forward with his hands low looking to land big shots from awkward angles at every opportunity. He gave an idea of what to expect in his next fight, “I’m going to go in there and box his head off, win every round, like I always do, not giving anything away.
“It’s the same with every spar and every fight I’ve had since I was a kid – I had 60-odd in the amateurs. No one has seen me box yet, no one seen me able to box against someone half-decent, they’ve only seen me against journeymen, so they’re all going to see who I am.”
Cain is part of a talented gym, packed with amateur champions and pros, including Tokyo 2020 Olympian Peter McGrail and unbeaten prospects Bradley Strand, and the aforementioned Nick Ball and Jack McKinlay.
The up-and-coming prospects have always had a champion’s mindset and approach to training, but the welcome news of his first title shot has further incentivised him, he claims, “It gives me a bit more of an incentive to train. I’ll do longer rounds in sparring, probably get a few 12-rounds spars in, but I love to fight, I love to be in there gritting it out, but every fight is just another opponent in front of me, doesn’t make no difference to me whether it’s for a title or not.
“It helps to have that camaraderie in the gym, definitely, but on the night, it comes down to doing the best you can do.”
With 17 victories and 11 knockouts between the bantamweights, it’s set to be an explosive encounter when they do clash, very likely to be rescheduled before the end of this year.
Patiently waiting, Cain asserted that he’s prepared for any given date, “I know I’m ready, been ready since I’ve been a little baby, so bring it on!”
Brad ‘The Blade’ Foster (14-0-2, 5KOs) defends both his British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight crowns to Jason Cunningham (29-6, 6KOs), who puts up his European title in the main event.
Also on the card, Botswana-born Ekow ‘The Engine’ Essuman (15-0, 6KOs), from Nottingham, defends his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles to unbeaten Kingswinford’s Danny Ball (10-0-1, 4KOs) in what will be a Midlands derby; Callum ‘The One’ Johnson (19-1, 14KOs) returns in a defence of his WBO Global light-heavyweight belt; unbeaten featherweight prospect Nick Ball (13-0, 6KOs) is guaranteed to entertain with his aggressive, exciting style of fighting; hard-hitting welterweight Jack McKinlay (2-0) is finally back after a few false starts; both unbeaten in four bouts each, York’s George Davey (4-0) and Worcester’s Owen Cooper (4-0) return.
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