'I love to work the crowd with my ring walks and I try to knock people out'

For Omar Davis, boxing is more than a sport, writes Matt Bozeat.

It’s entertainment and when he fights, the entertainment starts before he has even thrown a punch.

So far, he has left his changing room dressed in a boiler suit, a karate suit and accompanied by a saxophonist.

Davis is more than a showman though, he can fight too.

The spotless six-fight record includes a couple of chilling one-punch knockouts.

Davis targets a seventh straight win in Bar Sport’s Premier Suite in Cannock on Sunday, November 22 – but winning isn’t enough for Davis, he wants to put on a show.

“People pay their money to come and watch boxing and they should be entertained,” reasoned the 30-year-old. “I love to work the crowd with my ring walks and I try to knock people out because I know that’s what they want to see.

“It’s so important to entertain. Boxing is a business and if you don’t want to get pushed to the side you have to entertain.”

The best way to entertain fans is to punch hard – and Davis has been able to do that even since he started boxing.

Born and raised in Croydon, he relocated to the Midlands when he was 21 years old.

“I work in construction and there was an opening in Birmingham so I moved and it was there that I find boxing,” he said.

And discovered he could punch.

Both amateur bouts finished early and with opponents hard to find and Covid putting a stop to the sport, Davis thought he may have thrown his last “monster right hand”.

The birth of daughter Alula-May – now three years old – was a turning point.

“My daughter gave me a new incentive,” he said. “I thought: ‘God has given me a monster right hand, amazing speed and an amazing jab and if I don’t use those gifts, I’m not setting a good example to my daughter.’”

Three years on and Alula-May is showing promise at tennis, ballet and swimming and her father is adapting to professional boxing.

“Pro boxing is a completely different sport,” he said. “I went the distance a few times and started thinking: ‘Have I got any power?’

“It turns out I have got power, I needed to learn how to use it.

“The team at Eastside (gym in Birmingham) have shown me that knocking people out is a skill, it’s an art.

“It’s all about technique and timing.”

Provided he wins in Cannock, Davis is then set to put his technique and timing to the test at championship level.

Coventry ticket-seller Aaron Bowen took the Midlands Area super-middleweight title off Klinton Baptiste – and Davis wants a shot at him.