{"id":434435,"date":"2026-02-19T16:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434435\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T16:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:08:06","slug":"no-days-off-ishmael-davis-aims-for-the-top-ahead-of-bilal-fawaz-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434435\/","title":{"rendered":"No days off: Ishmael Davis aims for the top ahead of Bilal Fawaz defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The phrase: \u2018There\u2019s no rest for the wicked\u2019 will always ring true for certain fighters, not least British and Commonwealth super-welterweight champion Ishmael Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was only last September that Davis suffered his third defeat on the bounce, losing a contentious split decision to Caoimhin Agyarko<\/a> on away soil.<\/p>\n

The following month, though, \u2018The Black Panther\u2019 ended his win drought in a six-round tick-over fight, before claiming a unanimous decision victory over Sam Gilley in November.<\/p>\n

Now gearing up to defend his domestic titles against Bilal Fawaz \u2013 featuring on the undercard of Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington this Saturday \u2013 Davis has hardly afforded himself a moment to breathe.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Boxing News, the Yorkshireman revealed exactly how much time he was given to rest and recover over Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had four days; four days until Christmas. But it was good, man. All the kids were happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a dad [of seven] while you\u2019re an athlete is hard, because you\u2019re always training. And I\u2019m proper busy, always taking fights, so it\u2019s hard, but I spend as much time with them [his kids] as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Davis always seems to be taking fights; and in the wake of his loss to Agyarko, the 30-year-old felt as if he had no option but to jump back on the horse.<\/p>\n

And while such a quick turnaround would usually present more problems than benefits, Davis insists that his ability to recover between fights is almost superhuman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m \u2018The Black Panther\u2019, man. I\u2019m a young, strong man; I\u2019ve still got age on my side.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Caoimhin fight, I had a dip in emotions because I knew I won and got robbed, so I told myself to get straight back to training.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you\u2019ve got to make sacrifices, and that\u2019s what I did. One thing I always say to myself is: \u2018at the end of the day, that day\u2019s got to end.\u2019 You\u2019ve got to keep going; life goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having previously lost to Serhii Bohachuk and Josh Kelly \u2013 both on short notice \u2013 Davis is eager to properly test himself at world level, this time with the luxury of a full training camp.<\/p>\n

First, he must take care of business against English champion Fawaz, a fighter he has been preparing for by sharing rounds with standout amateur John Joe Carrigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I belong [at world level] but I know there\u2019s still a lot of work to do, because I\u2019m still learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been sparring John Joe [Carrigan], who\u2019s a seriously talented kid. He\u2019s a tough battle but I keep going back, keep sparring him, because he\u2019s so skilled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not stupid \u2013 I understand that, to be better, you\u2019ve got to get better opponents and better sparring partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Kelly claiming his IBF world title last month, dethroning dangerous puncher Bakhram Murtazaliev<\/a>, Davis hopes that a rematch will materialise in the not too distant future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know him before we fought but he\u2019s Josh Kelly \u2013 he\u2019s flashy \u2013 so I was thinking to myself, \u2018I need to beat this guy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then I\u2019ve gone and sparred him, have had a chat with him, and he\u2019s gone through similar things that I\u2019ve gone through.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s an all right guy, but he\u2019s in my weight [division] and has beaten me before, so I need to get my revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe boxed well [against Murtazaliev]. Everyone wants to see you stand and bang, but Josh Kelly can\u2019t stand and bang with that guy. I wouldn\u2019t even stand and bang with him. Well, I probably would, but I\u2019m different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis suffered a majority decision defeat to Kelly in 2024 but, in the final round, was able to hurt his man with a ferocious onslaught.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The phrase: \u2018There\u2019s no rest for the wicked\u2019 will always ring true for certain fighters, not least British…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-434435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}