Stand and fight? He’ll run like a thief.
So says Glenn Foot of his light-welterweight arch-rival Robbie Davies ahead of their double light-welterweight championship showdown in Newcastle.
The vacant British title and the Sunderland warrior’s Commonwealth strap will be on the line at the Metro Radio Arena on Saturday, October 13.
Davies has a record which suggests he has let his shots go somewhere along the line –12 of his 16 victories have been via stoppage, including a 12th-round TKO of Michal Syrowatka in March in his home city of Liverpool where he reclaimed the WBA Continental belt he had lost to the Pole.
Foot who stands and trades, no matter who the opponent is, doesn’t anticipate Davies engaging in a scrap.
“I don’t expect him to stand toe to toe with me,” Foot told punch-lines. “I think he’ll run like a thief.
“But whatever he does, I’ll be ready.”
This will be the 29-year-old Scouser’s first bout for a domestic honour though he has five WBA continental championship contests under his belt.
“Robbie does have a fair record but he’s been wrapped up in cotton wool,” said the Marley Pots crowd favourite, who trains in Peterlee under coach Dave Binns.
“When he stepped up he was knocked out by the Polish lad and in his last fight he ran.
“He’s stepping up against Glenn Foot.”
Like Davies, five of Foot’s last seven appearances have been title affairs.
The Phil Jeffries-managed fighter has lost two of them, both on points, to Akeem Ennis Brown and Josh Leather.
However, since dropping that majority decision to Brown at the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2017, Glenn has been a different animal.
“I think I’d lost a bit of motivation, but now I’m involved in the big fights and on the big shows you are now seeing the best Glenn Foot,” said the 30-year-old who became the king of the Commonwealth by stopping Jason Easton in the 11th round in Glasgow in March.
“Before the Leather fight Dave said to me you either train [properly] or you retire.
“I trained and I think you saw how well I can perform and that wasn’t the best Glenn Foot either. There’s still more to come.”
Foot v Davies is the chief support to fella Jaffa-managed fighter Lewis Ritson’s tilt at the vacant European lightweight title.
There is North-East talent aplenty on the Matchroom event like Tommy Ward, Terence Wilkinson, Simon Vallily, Lawrence Osueke, Joe Laws and Chad Ellis.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Lawrence Lustig/ Matchroom
