NOTTINGHAM, England — Liam Davies was disciplined, far busier and point-scored well at distance early to inflict a first defeat on Kurt Walker, winning the vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title once held by two-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson and recent WBO title challenger Edward Vazquez.

The final cards read 117-111, 115-113, 116-112 for the 29-year-old, who will no doubt have an eye on venturing back towards world level before long in the soon-to-be-updated IBF ratings.

Davies (17-1, 8 KOs) insisted after Friday's weigh-in that it was time for new goals and an opportunity to make a statement in a new weight division, having long boiled his body down to the junior-featherweight limit before a sluggish display against Shabaz Masoud ended his unbeaten streak in November.

Walker (12-1, 2 KOs) wasn't particularly bothered about engaging in any confrontation with him, though made sure to set about the former IBO titleholder by digging to the body and making Davies miss in the early going, delighting his vocal supporters ringside.

This was the first of three title fights on Queensberry's 12-fight card at Motorpoint Arena in the East Midlands, headlined by Anthony Cacace vs. Leigh Wood being televised worldwide on DAZN.

Davies began the second on the front foot, chaining combinations and jabbing well, while Walker countered upon occasion while seeking to nullify his opponent.

The third followed a similar pattern, Davies firing with four- or five-punch flurries to head and body, while Walker would respond by scoring in the same vein.

You could sense the crowd were baying for more action as they burst into song midway through a fourth without much noteworthy work, though Davies continued to subtly score based on volume.

Walker appeared to briefly freeze Davies centre ring, with a hook in the first minute of the fifth, but he replied by peppering jabs to slowly push back his opponent who lacked an effective deterrent to stop the forward pressure.

As they entered the second half, Davies grew agitated with Walker's clear reluctance to engage. He needed an opportunity to pin him in a corner and unload, creating a scenario which would've emboldened the Northern Irishman to comply.

That didn't happen, Davies mocked him by jogging on the spot and kept landing point-scoring shots that would give him favour with the judges, without much coming back. A far cry from his three-fight stretch over an eight-month span preceding the Masoud matchup, there was perhaps something to be said about the discipline on show at a new weight.

In the 10th, Walker belatedly pushed the pace — conscious he was behind at this juncture — though Davies nullified most of his best work by frequently tying up at close range, spinning him and landing scoring combinations and cuffing shots of his own afterwards.

Walker's team had found their voice in the penultimate round, content he had found a second wind from somewhere, though it wasn't enough to conjure more than a stirring noise from an unimpressed crowd wondering where this effort had been at the very least to create a firefight.

Too little, too late.