Just weeks after telling the featherweight contender that his fight with former British champion Zak Miller had been postponed, Johnson had to pick up the phone again to tell Davies that the Mancunian had withdrawn due to injury.

“He just rang me and said, “It’s not good news”. I thought, ‘I’m f****** getting used to this not good news malarkey,’ ” Davies told The Ring with a laugh. “First, it was a date change and then a few weeks after that, the fight was off. It's frustrating, but it is what it is.”

A few days later, Johnson called again. This time he had better news.

Instead of fighting Miller, Davies (17-1, 8 KOs) will box Italy’s Francesco Grandelli (21-4-2, 6 KOs) for the vacant European featherweight title on the undercard of the heavyweight fight between Moses Itauma and Jermaine Franklin. The fight takes place at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on Saturday night (DAZN; 5 p.m GMT).

The change of opponent could be the stroke of luck the 29-year-old from Telford has been waiting for. Davies is a confident, funny character, but admits that he struggled after losing his undefeated record to Shabaz Masoud in November 2024.

He has boxed just once since – a comfortable get-back win over former Olympian Kurt Walker – and his closeknit family was hit with the news that his step-mum, Liza, had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. Davies has spent his time away from the gym helping to raise money sending her to Germany for life-saving treatment.

Situations away from the ring have allowed him to put the Masoud defeat and his reasons for fighting into perspective.

Davies knows that boxing offers him the best possible chance of improving life for himself and his loved ones, yet he is determined to enjoy his career as much as possible. Fighting Grandelli for the vacant European title offers him a shortcut toward achieving his dream of becoming a world champion.

“It puts me a few steps ahead of where I’d have been after beating Zak Miller,” Davies said. “I could have beat Miller and then they could have done this fight after that. I’m certainly due some luck. I’ll have had 11 months out of the ring by the time I fight and it’s a long, long time. Other things in life go on, don’t they? But the s*** news I’ve had outside of boxing has made me just bury my head into the boxing and that’s the only positive I can take out of the negative.

“Financially as well, I’ve a handful of local sponsors and they’ve been massive for me. Them people have stood by me. When I’ve had no fights, I’m living off sponsorship money.”

The Davies family has had to deal with circumstances outside the ring on a day-to-day basis, but boxing-wise, Davies finds himself in a familiar situation.

In November 2023, he arrived in Manchester for a defense of his European junior featherweight title as one of the world's top 122-pound fighters.

Full of self-belief but tight at the weight, he dispensed with his boxing skills and happily engaged the aggressive Vincenzo La Femina in a fire fight.

He dropped the Italian in the third round, but he was then deposited on the canvas himself. Unflustered, he picked himself up and got rid of La Femina in exciting, gun-slinging fashion.

That night, Davies boxed as though he didn’t care what La Femina brought to the table. He knows that he can’t afford to undertake a second career rebuilding job.

Grandelli is a known quantity who has previously fallen just short at world level. In 2024, he lost hard-fought, back-to-back decisions to Nathaniel Collins and Cristobal Lorente, who will meet in a final eliminator to challenge for Bruce Carrington’s WBC featherweight title April 17.

He is tough, relentless and good enough to expose any weaknesses should Davies under-prepare either mentally or physically.

“I didn’t watch him against Lorente, but I’ve seen him against Nathaniel,” Davies said. “He’s obviously game, isn’t he? I like the Italians. They always come to fight, but it’s just the wrong thing to do against me I think. I think that’s going to show on Saturday.

“He can be hard work but the way I’ve been in the gym, I feel like I’ve levelled up. It’s easier said than done and I’ve got a lot to prove, but I’m excited and looking forward to the fight. I’m going to break him down. It’s just about being clever and controlled. I will get him, but I’m going to be patient doing it.”

Should all go to plan this weekend, Davies will immediately target the featherweight division’s biggest names.

He seemed destined for a world title shot at 122 pounds until Masoud derailed his plans. Though the weight division may have changed, his end goal remains the same.

Davies is already ranked inside the top 15 by all four major sanctioning bodies. He would happily jump on a plane for a straight shot at IBF titleholder Angelo Leo or WBO champion Rafael Espinoza.

Another potential route to the top has opened up recently.

In February, Nick Ball lost his WBA featherweight belt and undefeated record to Brandon Figueroa. The Liverpudlian is currently on holiday, but will soon begin plotting his return. A spectacular win on a major platform this weekend would put Davies into the mix for a major fight and a high-stakes, all-British fight with Ball would certainly interest him.

“I’ve thought about it,” Davies said. “I was speaking to my manager and am I the right fight for him to come back? A puncher against a puncher? I didn't look like one in my last fight, so maybe. I’m quite easygoing, me. I’m just happy to fight. I just want paying for it. Nick Ball’s a massive name in Britain, so it’d be a massive fight, I’d be up for it and I’d expect paying big.”