His mother, who missed important school exams in order to have him while she was still a teenager, needed an escape route from the abusive relationship which had enveloped her life.

That meant she had no choice but to take young Liam and his brother and sister 25 miles west of their home in Donnington, England to a safe house in Walsall.

“I was eight or nine at the time,” Davies says. “The idea is that you stay there for a few months until you can get new accommodation away from the situation you were in before.

"It was a women's refuge. You know the place; like a big mansion house which is split into rooms for people who need somewhere to stay.

“My mum and dad had me at 16 or 17, so they were never together. My mum missed her GCSEs to have me. Then it was in her next relationship where the problems came.

“We stayed in Walsall for a while, I actually went to school there for a bit and then we moved back to a women’s refuge in Donnington. Then we kind of got a house, and my mum got away from that situation, and things started to get better.”

Those days are not a subject area the 30-year-old is desperate to dwell upon but they are important paving stones on the road to his position as one of Britain’s potential world champions. He, along with his 25-year-old brother Bradley Thompson (7-0, 2 KOs), is a product of those days in Walsall.

“We were raised mainly by my mum,” he adds. “My brother is 7-0 now, he’s got the same hunger. But when I think about it, violence is all we've ever known. My mum reckons it's all from her. She has raised two fighters so it just shows what a fighter she was.”

Davies (18-1, 9 KOs) speaks to The Ring a little over a week out from his clash with Nathaniel Collins at Birmingham’s bp pulse LIVE, which is only a short drive from Walsall.

It is his third fight since a crushing defeat to local rival Shabaz Masoud, who beat him via split decision at the same venue in November 2024. Before that defeat, Davies had been on a steady march towards a world title but he has had to rebuild ever since.

On Saturday night, he will return to the top of the bill when he faces Collins in the first defence of his European featherweight title, live on DAZN. His mother, as always, will be watching closely.

“I feel like everything that went on when I was a child is a massive drive for me,” he says. “The nights that I have done well and I see my mum, my family around me are the better times. It's a privilege that I can bring to people and it's massively motivating.

“We're all chasing a better life, aren't we? I'm not saying I've had it worse than anyone, no one's had it perfect, but I definitely had tough times, and I feel like they've done me good for my later years.

“The fire has built a hunger inside me. It's definitely been positive … I took a negative to a positive over the years. I've always worn my heart on my sleeve, that's what I am, that's how I am.

“For me, it's about getting my message out there because unfortunately people are in those situations; women, young kids in refuges and everything else. It's a shame. So if I can give anyone hope then that’s what I’ll try to do and what a blessing for me that is.”

Davies was floored by that defeat to Masoud, another Shropshire fighter hunting for world title opportunities. The loss also damaged his positioning in the world rankings but victories over Kurt Walker and Francesco Grandelli have pushed him back towards the champions.

He is currently No. 7 with the IBF, No. 8 with the WBC and No. 6 with the WBO. Now a victory over Collins could secure him a crack at a world title in his very next fight, 20 years after his first bout as an 11-year-old amateur.

“I’ve got to win the world title to pay everyone back,” he says. “Every one of the people who stood by me and supported me chasing my dreams. I’ll be real, most people would have given up. Things went quiet and it’s hard to find the motivation to get it going again and I’m proud of myself for doing that.

“I’m in a great position now and I feel like I’m one fight away from making sure my financial difficulties never come back and that’s the main thing for me.

“I’ve done this for 20 years so I want something to show for it. I want to be able to look back on my life and think that it’s been hard, it’s been tough but it was all worth it in the end.”