Liam Davies is one of boxing’s realists.

Last November, the former British, European and IBO super bantamweight champion turned in the first sub-par performance of his career and lost his unbeaten record to Shabaz Masoud.

The defeat spelled the end of Davies’ time at 122lbs and he knows he must make a statement when he makes his featherweight debut against unbeaten Irish Olympian, Kurt Walker (12-0, 2 KOs), on Saturday night.

The two will fight on the undercard of the super featherweight contest between Anthony Cacace and Leigh Wood. DAZN will broadcast the event live from Nottingham, England.

The gap between super bantamweight and featherweight is just 4lbs - less than 4 pints of water - and whilst Davies (16-1, 8 KOs), will notice the benefits more and more as weigh in day approaches, he knows that a little extra weight won’t cure all ills.

He is also sure that it will put him in a much better position to do so.

“I still wouldn't say it's easy. I’m still a big kid, ain't I?” he told The Ring. “This has shown me that for no love or money would I make super bantamweight again.”

“F——g craziness, really. Absolutely crazy,” he continued when remembering how difficult it was to boil himself down to super bantamweight, “but it's all I ever known.

“I did it but, this camp, I’ve been able to do my last spar. The last couple of camps I haven't been able to spar the last couple of weeks because I had no energy.

“I'm looking forward to fighting. Last year was a weird one. I had my best year and my first loss.”

Last March, a stunning second round knockout of Mexican dangerman, Erik Robles Ayala, earned Davies the IBO title and put him squarely in contention for a world title fight.

Instead, Davies agreed to step into the ring with his long time rival, the skilful Masoud. Although the fight grabbed the attention of British fight fans and pushed Davies to the top of a major bill for the first time, it did feel like a sideways step for the 29 year-old from Donington, whose career had been on a constant upward trajectory.

Illness forced Davies to withdraw from a planned summer date and, by the time he and Masoud did get into the ring, eight months had passed. Davies’ body had finally outgrown the super bantamweight division and the head of steam he built up on his charge through the division had begun to simmer down.

Masoud was brilliant on the night and boxed his way to a split decision victory but Davies was a shadow of the fighter who had stormed his way through the division.

Some will see choosing to fight another smart, slick boxer like Walker in the first fight of his featherweight campaign as a bold but risky approach but Davies sees things entirely differently.

He is looking forward to showing that the Masoud display was an anomaly.

“He’s an Olympian, isn't he? But it's weird because, in my camp, I think he’s quite similar to me, style-wise. As weird as it is, believe I just do things better,” he said.

“I think people are going to think I can be outboxed now and I'm coming to remind everyone that it was just one of them nights for me last time.

“It's just to remind people that these things happen. I don't really want to talk too much on weight and all that because in this world we live in it sounds like an excuse so I ain't going to touch on it too much but, on Saturday night, I can prove - I can remind people - who the f—k Liam Davis is.

“Once I get going on Saturday night, I expect a big performance from myself. People talk and say whatever to talk themselves into it but that's not my style. This is the best I've sparred in a camp in a long time and it's really, really got me excited. “

A conversation with Davies is a refreshingly excuse free experience.

Davies is able to see through much of the falseness of modern boxing and isn’t the type to chase attention but admits that he began to allow too many thoughts about future opponents and potential paydays to infiltrate his thoughts around the time of his destruction of Ayala.

The talented Masoud has the ability to cause any super bantamweight fighter on the planet serious issues but Davies never got untracked and spent too long following rather than fighting.

Davies knows that most fans don’t care whether his performance that night was due to overconfidence, Masoud’s ability or - whisper it around him - the effects of boiling his 5ft 9in frame down to 122lbs one too many times. He has also stopped worrying what they think.

Davies has spent the past six months re-evaluating his priorities and figuring out exactly what he needs in order to be successful.

He avoided following the modern trend of taking a root and branch approach to his comeback or launching a media blitz listing the reasons why things went wrong. A lower profile Davies is back with the same team and a new purpose.

“I'm best left in the dark, me. I don't like all this. I'm doing this to do my thing and then dip off,” he said.

“I don't want all the cameras. These people started to believe in me and that probably didn't sit as well with me as when people don't have no expectations of me.

“Me and my team are quiet, not very well known. It's me, my dad, Simon Baverstock and Errol Johnson. We just like to get on with things and feel like we've been left in the dark to crack on this time and, in the past, that's brought the best out of me.

“The good thing is that as much as I was gutted I lost, it’s the first time I've looked back on my life and my boxing career over the last couple of years because they've been flat out. It's the first time I've probably paused as a grown man, looked back and been able to be like, ‘You know what? Fair play, Liam’ and I carry that attitude now.

“I've done it all before with no experience. I ain't got no big coaches, no people who have been there. We’ve all learned on the first time round and we all know now that there's no reason why we can't do it again with this experience.

“We've been and done it.”