Ohara Davies vows to silence Glasgow crowd and dominate Josh Taylor
Thursday 6 July 2017 17:03, UK
Ohara Davies has no concerns about a hostile crowd in Glasgow as he prepares for Saturday night's increasingly bitter clash with Josh Taylor.
Davies and Taylor have been embroiled in a war of words on social media in recent weeks, stirring up what was already likely to be a pro-Taylor crowd at the Braehead Arena.
Barring a draw, one of Taylor (9-0-KO8) and Davies (15-0-KO12) will lose the unbeaten start to their professional career and the tension was obvious at Thursday's press conference.
Davies unleashed a volley of abuse at his Edinburgh-based rival but added he will let his gloves do the talking, not fearing any kind of negative reception from Scottish fight fans.
The Commonwealth and WBC Silver super-lightweight champion said: "I've got no issue coming here to get booed in a show that has sold about 300 tickets. I've been booed in front of a lot bigger crowds.
"I'm not fazed. My last fight was at the O2. I was fighting in my own hometown and I got booed in front of thousands. What issue have I got coming to his hometown to get booed in front of a few hundred? It means nothing to me.
"I don't really care about the reaction I get. As soon my entrance music comes on I don't see the crowd. I don't hear them. All I hear is what my coach tells me. Nothing else affects me and I can shut everything out.
"What doesn't change is that I go in there every day, do the business, keep my WBC silver belt then go home and eat a few burgers."
Davies called Taylor, an Olympian at London 2012, a "bum" and said he hadn't trained so long to become popular in the sport.
"This game is not about who is loved or who is the best person," Davies added. "As long as you win you will get to where you are meant to get to. A personality isn't the main thing that sells - the main thing is the fighting.
"Loved or not loved, all you guys are going to watch me fight. As long as my friends and my family love me, that's all the matters. None of it is a wind-up. I come here and say what I want to say. I do what I want to do.
"I call everyone in my weight class who is a threat to me a bum. He is a bum, I think his coach is a bum, I think his whole team is a bum. In fact the whole of Cyclone promotions that are here are all bums. I'm here to shut him up.
"I'm my own boss. That's what I felt like saying today, so that's what I said. I've done this time after time. I'm just doing the same thing - I'm just getting paid more this time.
"Personally I don't know him but I think he is a good fighter and a decent person. If I wasn't a boxer and he wasn't, we would probably be friends."
