Ohara Davies edges out Miguel Vázquez to return to winning ways

After an eight month lay-off following defeat to Jack Catterall, Ohara Davies returned to the ring at York Hall against the experienced former world champion, Miguel Vázquez.

With both sharing one common foe and loss on their records, coming in the name of the newly-crowned world champion Josh Taylor, Miquel Vazquez promised to be a tough assignment for Ohara Davies. The Mexican took Taylor nine rounds before being stopped compared to his seven.

The fight started and immediately Ohara Davies set-up in his awkward, rangy stance pawing out his jab with his octopus-like arms.

Although both were tentative in the early stages, the lack of foot movement from the Brit was becoming an issue. Vazquez was able to get off the better shots and adapt the quicker, taking the early rounds.

Despite cries of “come on Ohara!” from family members in an attempt to rally him, Davies seemed to be a little one-paced. Appearing frustrated, he looked to be carrying ring-rust after his time away from the squared-circle; his hooks were wild and was caught in two minds when the Mexican was backed up onto the ropes.

The first five rounds went by and Davies was looking for that one big shot. With 14 knockouts on his resume, the 27-year-old knew he had serious power in either hand. However, against a wily veteran like Miquel Vazquez, he had to break him down first.

After the fifth, the Hackney-born man began to find his accuracy, controlling proceedings with his jab. The left-hooks that were initially missing were starting to land with frequent success.

Refusing Vazquez’s offer of a touch of gloves in the ninth round, Davies knew he had to win the last two stanzas to snatch the victory. Instantly he got down to work finding a home for his straight right as well as displaying cleaner footwork and angles.

The final bell rang and referee Ian John-Lewis scored the bout in favour of Ohara Davies 97-94. In what was a razor thin fight, many inside the arena felt the scoring was too wide. The Mexican’s camp was fuming as they had felt they’d done enough. Even Davies himself disagreed with the manner of scoring, raising Miquel Vazquez hand after the bout.