Liam Davies Retrires Francesco Grandelli For Second EBU Title

Liam Davies captured the vacant European featherweight title on Saturday evening at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena. He dominated every round, and the contest ended decisively when, after a punishing sixth, Francesco Grandelli's corner refused to send him out for the seventh. This stoppage confirmed Davies as a two-weight European champion at age twenty-nine.

There was a degree of circumstance surrounding the contest worth noting at the outset. Davies had been scheduled to contest the vacant EBU title against Zak Miller on this card, a fight that had been anticipated as a reasonably competitive domestic encounter at featherweight. Miller's withdrawal through injury, however, opened the door for the Italian Grandelli to step in, and to his credit, the thirty-one-year-old from Italy made the journey to Manchester without hesitation. Whether the door opened in the direction Grandelli hoped will have become apparent fairly quickly.

Davies had recently stepped up from super bantamweight and was in only his second professional contest at the featherweight limit of 126 pounds. He looked enormous for the weight class when both men met in the centre of the ring before the opening bell. The size difference was striking and told a story proven accurate over the next six rounds. When a fighter is the visibly bigger man at the weight, the opponent's evening is rarely straightforward.

Davies removed any lingering doubts in the very first round, landing a right hand that hurt Grandelli with what appeared to be unsettling authority. The punch carried an impact that seemed to catch the Italian by surprise, which was perhaps understandable given that he had arrived in Manchester and had briefed the press that his speed and mobility were the keys to victory. By the end of the opening session, Grandelli's eye had already begun to close, which was not the outcome his corner had planned for when the bell first sounded.

The second round brought more of the same. Grandelli, to his credit, is not a fighter who disappears when things become difficult. He came forward, threw his shots, and showed the determination that has characterised his career. The pre-fight talk of his inside work and heavy hooks was not entirely without foundation, and he did attempt to implement that strategy with his back to the ropes on occasion. But Davies, far the superior technician in this contest, was not troubled by what came back at him, and he worked the body with a purposeful right hand that added to Grandelli's growing list of concerns.

The fourth round produced the key moment of the first half: Davies landed a short left hook late in the session, sending Grandelli heavily to the canvas. The punch, thrown with accuracy and power at close range, caused Grandelli to hit the canvas with a thud that made experienced observers wince. Despite the hard fall, the Italian regained his footing, composed himself, and made it through the round. His resilience in recovering from the knockdown was evident; however, whether he could change the direction of the fight was uncertain.

The fifth continued in the same vein, with Davies working the body with particular attention to Grandelli's midsection. The Italian's eye was, by this point, nearly swollen shut, presenting him with both a practical and a psychological challenge of some significance. Continuing to fight with significantly impaired vision against an opponent who hits as hard as Davies is an exercise in professional fortitude rather than competitive strategy, and there were moments in the fifth when the watching crowd, and one suspects the officials at ringside, were keeping a close eye on proceedings.

In the sixth, Davies maintained his pressure and continued to target the body, though he was warned at one point that some of his attacks had strayed below the belt. This warning highlighted Davies' aggressive approach. It would prove to be Grandelli's last session regardless. When the bell ended the sixth round, the Italian returned to his corner, where his team, seeing his condition, decided he had taken enough punishment and stopped the fight. The corner retirement was recorded at the conclusion of the round, and Liam Davies collected the EBU European featherweight title and the WBO Intercontinental belt simultaneously, adding both to the European super bantamweight title he had previously held.

For Grandelli, who is nothing if not persistent, it was the third time he had been denied the European featherweight title, having previously fallen short against Mauro Forte and against Cristobal Lorente, the Spaniard who relinquished the belt he won from Grandelli's efforts and is now preparing to face Nathaniel Collins in a WBC eliminator next month in Glasgow. The fact that Grandelli continues to seek out these opportunities, travel, and compete at the highest level available to him speaks to a professional commitment that deserves acknowledgement, even when the results do not go his way.

The more significant question raised by Saturday's result concerns where Davies goes from here. Already a European champion at super bantamweight before the move up in weight, he imposed himself on this contest with authority, suggesting an effective transition. The featherweight division, meanwhile, offers credible paths forward. Next month, Lorente and Collins will meet in a WBC eliminator, and world title holders Bruce Carrington, Rafael Espinoza, Brandon Figueroa, and Angelo Leo are all active and accessible. As a result, Davies has given himself a platform from which a legitimate world title challenge can be constructed.

Davies is a southpaw, though some accounts note his right hand as a weapon. This suggests a degree of ambidexterity in his offence, which complicates matters for opponents. His power, which was impressive for the weight class on Saturday, is a major asset. His commitment to body punching tends to pay dividends as the contest progresses into the middle and later rounds. Grandelli never got to test those late rounds in this case.

Davies has thirty-eight professional fights in his career if you count his time at super bantamweight, and he is hitting what may well prove to be the most productive phase. He is experienced enough to handle pressure, skilled enough to impose himself on varied opposition, and powerful enough to end matters before the scorecards are required. European champion at two weights, and still climbing.