DEC 2025

Davis, now a father of six, is a role model to the youth of today, but there was a time he was a lost soul. Davis explained. “I was 18 years old when I went to prison the first time. I went to HMP Marshgate first, then I went to HMP Deerbolt and did 11 months in total. Then when I got recalled, I did another four months. It was all down to drug dealing.

“When I was in Marshgate, I had a moment of, ‘You need to turn your life around.’ In that prison, there was a lot of gang members from Sheffield and people coming in for murders. One of my mates from Sheffield was in for murder and he ended up getting 35 years. I spoke to a few guys who were in for fighting cases and they said, ‘Listen. It’s all rubbish. The lifestyle. If you can go and do something you are good at, then go for it and make something of yourself.’

“Some of the toughest guys, real bad guys, they wanted to cry in there. That lifestyle that gangsters are living is all a façade really. You do it because you want people to be scared of you, because you don’t want to be hurt and you want to live up to this lifestyle. But It’s not worth it. Trust me.

“I knew I didn’t want to keep going back to prison and I started training after the first sentence. The problem was, I was still dipping my toe into my street life, so when I went back the second time, I said, ‘No. That’s enough now.’ When I got out, I moved out of the area and put my all into boxing.”

Davis turned pro on 7 September 2018 and by the end of 2023, he was undefeated with a record of 11-0. His breakthrough fight came on 11 November 2023, when he fought Ewan McKenzie at the Newcastle Arena. “That was my chance to show Eddie Hearn what I had. It was a good fight because we were both undefeated and I went up to his backyard and stopped him. That felt amazing. I told Eddie what I’d do, and I stuck to my word.”

Four months later, Davis locked horns with more experienced opposition in Troy Williamson. “That was a mad one. My trainer didn’t want me to take the fight because I went from never having gone past eight rounds to going straight into a 12-round fight, with an ex British champion, who was a proper, strong opponent. But I still took the fight.

“Troy didn’t make the weight, so we had to come to an agreement and I went out there and beat him and that’s when I got signed by Matchroom. To me, that felt my career had started properly.” Davis lost his next three outings, albeit, his stock rose substantially, simply due to the calibre of opponents he faced and most importantly, the account he gave of himself. On 21 September 2024, Davis took on the highly talented Josh Kelly on the undercard of Daniel Dubois versus Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium. ‘The Black Panther’ recalled the night. “Fighting at Wembley was a crazy feeling. It’s not that I felt out of place, because I can be around anyone, but I just felt I had got there a bit fast, having this chance to fight on an AJ card. When everyone was taking photos at the press conference, I remember thinking, ‘No way, I’m sitting here right now.’”

Davis lost a debatable majority points decision, especially after Kelly was badly hurt in the final round. However, the newly crowned champion reflected with humility. “That night, I gave a good account of myself and that performance also helped to build my profile. Going into those final rounds I feel like I’d saved a bit, which I shouldn’t have done, because if hadn’t have saved it and went for him, I would have beaten him. When you are up against someone of Josh Kelly’s level, you do the best you can and sometimes your strategy doesn’t play in your favour, which is what happened that night. I know now, I would probably stop Josh Kelly within 10 rounds. That’s nothing against him, because he’s a lovely guy, but boxing wise, I believe, if we have a rematch, I beat him, very convincingly.”

Three months to the day, on 21 December 2024, Davis took on tough Ukrainian, Serhii Bohachuk in, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk rematch. Davis recalled his second big stage fight in succession and his rationale on accepting it. “I only had 11 days notice (as Israil Madrimov had pulled out), but I ain’t scared of no man, so when someone says, ‘Do you want this fight?’ I’ll say, ‘Yeah.’ It’s a career, so in a career you need earnings and Saudi is a good place to get that. It was a chance to change my life for my children and change my future. I chose to take the fight, gave it my all and although I lost the fight, I also learned a lot, which I’m very grateful for. When you fight at that level, you have a better understanding and appreciation for why you need a certain level of preparation. I got a glimpse of what fighting at world level is like and how they perform. The whole experience in Riyadh was good, but also different. The crowd is not like the English fans – over there, they are a lot quieter. They’re not loud like us. I have to say though, I was treated like a king out there.”

On 13 September 2025, Davis took on Caoimhin Agyarko and lost via split decision, despite having Agyarko on the canvas in the final round. Davis reflected on the encounter staged in Belfast. “Once I put him down, I was thinking, ‘You’ve definitely done enough here.’ I don’t understand how they could have given him the decision, but I guess, being in his hometown, played in his favour. Hopefully that’s another rematch I’ll get, and I’ll beat him as well.

Despite having signed a contract to fight Sam Gilley a mere two months later on 15 November 2025 on the Conor Benn versus Chris Eubank Jr undercard at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Davis took a fight in between against Elliot Eboigbe. Surely that was a risk? “Not really. I just went out there and boxed. I didn’t try to do too much and put myself in unnecessary risk. I just boxed, got the win and focused on the next fight, which was Gilley.”

After three losses, the victory against Eboigbe would have no doubt given Davis a boost, however, from Agyarko to Gilley, that was three fights in two months. The media had already made Davis the titleless underdog. The Leeds native reflected on his career defining contest. “In any of these fights, I believe in myself one hundred percent. I went into that fight thinking, ‘He’s not beating me.’ I kept saying to my team, ‘Sam Gilley can’t beat me. He can’t.’ I don’t listen to the detail of what people say, I just knew that most people thought I would lose and I wanted to prove them all wrong. That was a massive motivation. That’s the mentality I went into this fight with.” Davis won a unanimous decision and in doing so was crowned the new British and Commonwealth super welterweight champion.

When asked how it felt a few days after victory, Davis laughed and said, “And the new. That still really sounds good. The night I won the titles, I went to bed around 5am, just talking with my dad and my missus. Then when I went to bed, I had the boxes of the belts open, so when I woke up, that’s the first thing I saw.”

Prior to his championship plaudits, Davis was walking the walk, but this time in a modelling capacity, donning the washed black threads of British Vintage Boxing. Davis explained his parallel passion between boxing and BVB. “The brand resonates with me one million percent because I’m an old school fighter who will fight any place, any time and I just want to train hard. That gear is perfect for me, because I train hard and twice a day, so that tracksuit gets a good workout as well.”

With a championship belt over each shoulder, what’s next for Ishmael Davis? “Some defences, more wins, more entertainment.”