Davies (19-1, 10 KOs) dropped Collins (17-2-1, 8 KOs) in the opening round and outboxed him until the Scotsman was retired by his corner after seven painful rounds.

Davies previously held the British and European titles and junior featherweight but has looked like a fighter reborn since he stopped boiling his angular frame down to 122 pounds.

On March 28 the 30-year-old from Donnington collected the European featherweight belt with a punch perfect direction of Francesco Grandelli, and his first title defense got off to a blistering start.

After getting Collins’ attention with a short left inside the first 15 seconds, he put him on the canvas halfway through the opening round with a beautiful one-two.

Collins composed himself well. He had some success himself during the second, but Davies was happy to hold his feet and counter with his own heavy shots.

Although Collins spat back with the occasional burst, Davies had quickly taken charge of the fight courtesy of a razor sharp jab and snappy power shots. He opened a bad cut around Collins right eye in the fourth with a nice left, and the injury immediately began to swell badly.

Collins begged his corner not pull him out between rounds, and he survived a doctor’s inspection in the fifth as he bravely battled on. He scored with the odd lead right hand and counter left but, on the whole, he spent far too long at the end of Davies’ well picked long punches.

At the end of the seventh, Collins returned to his corner and his longtime trainer, Joe Ham, pulled him out.

It was an outstanding display of accurate punching and control from Davies, who will now target a world title shot.