Liam Davies has already glimpsed the summit of the sport.

The 29-year-old from Donnington dragged himself up from ground level. A series of impressive victories earned him the English, British, European and IBO junior featherweight titles and helped him develop into a headline attraction.

With a major title shot on the horizon, a November 2023 loss to Shabaz Masoud cost Davies his undefeated record and kicked him back down the mountain.

Now Davies is quietly retooling and doing all he can to ensure that when his next opportunity does arrive, he is ready to take it. This isn’t an unfamiliar situation for Davies (17-1, 8 KOs).

He didn’t have the red carpet rolled out for him when he decided to turn professional and made an anonymous debut at a Holiday Inn in Birmingham. His success came from hard work and snatching every chance that came his way.

Rather than being upset or offended at having to prove himself again, Davies is relishing the idea of doing just that. He has done it before and knows that he can do it again.

“That’s exactly how I feel, but I’m cool with it because it’s motivating, man,” Davies told The Ring. “It’s chapter two.”

In May, Davies returned as a featherweight and righted the ship with a solid unanimous-decision victory over 2020 Olympian Kurt Walker.

Getting a win was crucial to Davies personally and professionally, but the way he did it also showed some growth as a fighter.

Against Masoud, he paid the price for chasing a slick, talented counter puncher. Quickly realising that Walker possessed similar skills, Davies thought his way through the fight and concentrated on punching in twos and threes, rather than looking for big shots.

“I took the last fight against another unbeaten fighter [Walker] which, OK, they can say wasn’t the level that I have been competing at,” Davies said, “but still, I thought it gives me some respect. I cruised through it and I cruised because he made me miss in the second round, to be fair. Obviously, my performance before [against Masoud] I was flat and forcing it and I wanted to make sure that wasn’t the case again.

“I didn’t treat it like a spar, but my dad [former professional, Tristan] was just saying just tip-tap him because he couldn’t handle it. I think that’s why I threw so many shots. The viciousness wasn’t there, but that’s because of how eager and frustrated I was last time.”

Davies shouldn’t have to wait too much longer for a chance. He is right in the thick of a busy, deep British featherweight division.

Reigning WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball stands alone at the top. Behind him, Nathaniel Collins is preparing to challenge Spain’s Cristobal Lorente for the European title whilst Rhys Edwards and Gully Powar are due to fight for the vacant British belt.

One man does have a clear schedule.

Last weekend, former British featherweight titleholder Zak Miller (17-1, 3 KOs) successfully defended his Commonwealth title against Leon Woodstock.

These days, fighters are barely allowed time to pose for victory photographs with their team before talk turns to who they may fight next. As the in-form Miller completed his post-fight interview, Davies’ name was brought up as a potential opponent.

Davies was relaxing at his caravan and didn’t watch the entertaining 12-round scrap. It still didn’t take long for him to hear that his name had been mentioned.

“I didn’t even watch the fight,” Davies said. “I’d just come off the beach. The signal ain’t great down at the caravan and my mate sent me the video after. I get why but, to me, that’s a waste of a fight, even though I’d do it because I just want to fight.

"He’s a good kid, Zak, and I don’t mind the fight — I’d fight anyone — but to me, that’s backwards. I feel like I want Nick Ball and people like that, me. The only way I’d take that fight is because I’d go out there with a chip on my shoulder to do a bust-up and then say, ‘Why are you putting me in with these guys?’

“If it comes and they said this is your option, I’m not going to say, no, am I? But I am going to say, ‘If we do it, can you push me in a direction? Like a ranking of some kind,’ because I like the [IBF champion] Angelo Leo fight. I like all of them [the world champions]. I think I can mix it with all of them and the last one was just about getting back winning.”

Davies may not have watched Miller’s fight with Woodstock, but he respects Miller and the way he has risen to prominence over the past 18 months.

He would happily jump directly into a fight with any of the biggest names at 126 pounds. If no other opportunities present themselves, Davies knows that a fight with the Mancunian would provide him with a solid platform from which to launch another assault on the world scene.

“Beggars can’t be choosers they say where I come from,” Davies said. “So, I’ll take anything I can. The American, Bruce Carrington, I’d happily fight [him]. I’m guessing they could do it in America. It ain’t going to cost anyone any money. Go there, beat him and give me a world title shot.”

It is good to hear the conviction retuning to Davies’ voice. The loss to Masoud brought one of the fastest rises in British boxing to a harsh, shuddering halt.

Boxing fans and media can be extremely fickle. Davies went from being asked about his major world title ambitions and the possibility of a trip to Japan to fight undisputed junior featherweight champion and pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue, to being asked, well, nothing.

Outwardly, Davies carried himself with his usual up-beat confidence and self-belief. But after beating Walker, he admitted that the previous months had been difficult.

Moving to featherweight gave him the opportunity to reinvent himself. Most importantly, he decided to recalibrate and focus on why he fell in love with boxing in the first place.

These days, Davies is pouring all his energy into working on his game and controlling what he can control. He knows that if and when he gets back to his best, everything else will take care of itself.

“I'm good,” Davies said. “You don’t look at life different, but the boxing game different. I don’t take to heart so much. I’ve kind of learnt how it runs now. I’ve got more of an understanding of the boxing. My life’s always been good. I’ve never been not happy with life. It’s more the frustrations of boxing. I just want to keep working up because I know it’s all going to come back.

“I’ve always trained, but I’d never trained this hard without no fight day or still watched what I’m eating. I wouldn’t be this locked in and it’s because I feel like I’ve seen what you can get. I’ve been close to it and I know I can get it again by just living and breathing boxing.”