Team Davies, That’s Me

On October 7, independent fighter, Harry Davies (4-2) is set to defend his amateur WCMMA welterweight title strap against 4-4 fighter, Mervin Pobi – who hails from Spring Chant Fitness. The fight takes place in East London at the Troxy, just along the A13.

I took the chance to grab Harry and find out a bit about his last fight, his upcoming fight, and what the future may hold.

“My last fight was against Shane Nolan at the Troxy on Dave O’Donnell’s WCMMA show. I got rocked in the first round with one of the first punches. I managed to hang on and took him down at the end of the round to score some points. In the second, I got the takedown and secured a rear-naked choke and won the WCMMA welterweight title.

“Winning the title was great but, how can I put it? I think the word I’m looking for is ‘satisfying’. It’s not quite satisfying enough. I want more. I want to be a pro champion. I’m known now on this show and that will definitely help to open doors. Some people look to go pro without fighting enough at amateur.”

There are things there we can exploit

Looking ahead to WCMMA 26, Davies is confident that he and his coach have found traits in his opponent that they can use to their advantage.

“My next fight is on October 7 against a guy called Mervin Pobi. He’s a martial arts instructor – a Wing Chun instructor, I think.

“He [Pobi] has a few fights on YouTube, so my coach Saied Gholamie and I have studied him. He has a tendency to lean his head back and stuff. His style is Wing Chun or Karate, very bolt upright, front leg out. There are things there we can exploit.”

It’s not just potential holes in Pobi’s game that Davies feels could give him the edge come October 7, his own prep for the fight has put him in a strong position.

“I’ve worked hard for this fight. I’ve done much more training, much more cardio and fitness, much more sparring and plenty of road work. I’ve managed to pack on more muscle. I haven’t fought since March and the break has done me good, I’m coming into this fight as fit as a fiddle.
I’ve tailored my training to suit this fight.

“I’ve got some great support coming with me to this fight. I have managed to fill nine tables and some standing tickets. That’s about 110 people so far! We’ve filled a coach and others are making their way by train and car.”

So. When this fight is done, does Harry intend to defend again, or is he looking to start a professional career, and will that be at welterweight?

“There are talks of me having one more fight at this level in December, then perhaps have my first fight professionally in May. It will probably be on UCMMA. I’d like to work my way up towards the welterweight title, build up a record, and hopefully end up in Bellator in a few years.

“As for the weight, I don’t know. I don’t know to be honest. I struggle to keep the weight off at 77kgs sometimes. I’ve fought at middleweight, but I feel strong at this weight. If I went lower, I wouldn’t lose strength as such, but it would be draining. It takes up to four days to properly rehydrate. What I might do is, for my December fight, I might keep dieting, get to 77 (or 75 is the lightest I’ve been) and see how I feel. It’d be like a trial cut. If I can get to 72kgs and still feel good and strong then 2kgs of water is nothing. It’s doable. It’s when fighters try to drop 3,4 or 5kgs of water in days that problems arise. It’s not good for you.

“For this fight though, and at this stage, I am bang on weight and I have never felt so fit. I have been sparring 15-minute rounds, my power has improved and my breathing is far better than it was.”