Adam Azim rose to the challenge of Ohara Davies, putting the Londoner down twice as he won in style inside eight rounds at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Azim hit hard home shots early. In the first round he scored with a lovely one-two, a blaze of straight punches that Davies took on the chin and must have felt.
Davies smiled as he backed off, but surely he was masking concern. Azim had started fast and was working with menacing intent.
His rapid jabs were catching Davies and Azim was dictating the action.
Azim tagged him with a lead left hook, but Davies launched a hefty right that caught his opponent. That backhand continued to threaten and Azim had to weave away from it.
Their long jabs battled for position and both unleashed shots that brought up gasps from the crowd.
They landed on each other to end the third round. The two have known each other for years, since Azim was a child. But their mutual respect didn’t prevent either from opening up with heavy artillery.
Azim’s landed heavy power shots
Azim cracked Davies with his left hook in the fourth and lined that shot up again. The smile returned to Davies’ face but Azim ignored it and shifted him to the side with a right hook.
Azim hooked his left excellently off the jab and he finished the fourth round with a right uppercut scything through.
The power-punching was affecting Davies in the fifth round. Azim rocked him back, but Davies still popped a left hook in.
That didn’t deter Azim who, with a left to the body, sent his opponent to the canvas. With huge punches to follow that up, he smashed his right down. Davies was firmly on the retreat, and in desperate trouble. His corner had a towel out, poised on the ring apron, considering pulling him out as he just got through the round.
Somehow Davies managed to smile at the bell, acknowledging Azim’s work.
The man from Slough was in full flow though in the next round, shrugging off another defiant left hook from Davies.
Azim continued to subject him to punishment. Davies held on for another round but Azim delivered a sensational finish in the eighth.
A straight one-two set up a clean left hook that smashed the Londoner to his knees at 1:18 of the eighth round. Davies could not continue from there, the referee waving it off even before Davies’ corner team could pull him out.
“It was my best performance,” Azim said afterwards. “I had to be very switched on for him.
“For the whole 13 weeks I’ve been training hard. He’s my friend, but he’s very dangerous. He’s a world title contender so I’ve got so much love for him.”
Davies: This might be the end
“Adam will go far in the sport of boxing. I done my thing, but you know what? It’s time for the young gun Adam to make his name and be up there,” Davies said.
“I’ve had my time in the sport of boxing. I’ve been a pro for over 10 years now. I started boxing in Hackney and I think this might be the end of my boxing career. I think I might finish my boxing career in the same borough of Hackney where I started it.
“I feel like you have to know when your time is done. You don’t want to stay in this sport for too long and take too much.
“I’m fit. I’ve still got my faculties. I think this might be the end of my boxing career and I’m glad it was against Adam Azim.”
Dan Azeez fights Lewis Edmondson at the Copper Box Arena in London tonight live on Sky Sports+. Stream boxing and more with NOW