THERE is a huge challenge in front of Kurt Walker in Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Saturday as he seeks to grab the biggest win of his career when he takes on the big-punching Liam Davies for the IBF International featherweight title.

Walker came through a very good test against Lyon Woodstock at the SSE Arena back on March 1 - his first outing in almost a year - when he seemed to be coasting to victory until ‘The Lion’ mounted a late charge to earn a draw on one of the scorecards, but ultimately, the Lisburn man improved to 12-0 on a majority decision.

That fight became a little gruelling in the end, but Walker was delighted with those 10 rounds and insists they were exactly what he needed as he steps up in class once more, taking on Davies on the undercard of Cacace-Wood.

“The quick turnaround suits me as it usually takes me a while to get into shape (after a break),” he said.

“I’ve come into this camp in shape, which I’ve never done in my life, so I feel like I’m ready to fight now and have even had to hold back a bit because I’ve been doing 10 rounds (in sparring) easily.

“The Woodstock fight was perfect for me as I went in and boxed a completely different way to get the cobwebs off, tried to push myself and blow a gasket so I could get everything out of the fight.

“I’m glad I took that fight because it was just thrown at me. I was thinking if it was worth it, but it was, as it’s got me this fight and this is the first time I’m going in as an underdog.”

Davies had been cutting a swathe through the super-bantamweight division, winning British and European honours before really grabbing the attention with a one-round demolition of veteran Jason Cunningham.

The IBO title was next, but in his last outing, the 29-year-old from Donnington tasted defeat for the first time, falling to a narrow split decision against Shabaz Masoud, which prompted a move up to the featherweight division.

Davies can bang with half of his 16 wins inside the distance, but as the Masoud fight highlighted, a disciplined boxing performance can be his kryptonite.

“He can definitely be out-boxed,” Walker agrees.

“It’s a credit to both of us for taking this fight, but it’s a step-up for me and a hard one for him to come back to, so it should turn out to be a good fight.

“He can whack, but when I’m in with someone who can punch, I’m at my best. Going back to the amateurs, even though it is different, when I was in with the punchers in the Olympics of the World Championships, that’s when I found myself switched on the most.

“Against Woodstock, I didn’t care about his power, and I was getting hit. That’s when I’m at my worst, and I do that in sparring when I know they can’t hurt me - I just walk them down.”

The 30-year-old has prepared accordingly, sharing rounds with big-punching lightweight Sam Noakes in the gym and reports that he is in flying form.

This is not just a step up in class, as for the first time, Walker is scheduled for 12 rounds, but a tough 10-round win over Woodstock when he admits he “got a bit greedy at times” will stand to him for what is a major test, but one he knows he must pass to climb into title contention.

“If you touch lucky and things fall your way, you’re just two or three fights away from a world title,” he acknowledged.

“I’m glad I’ve got this break. It’s a big fight, but I’m looking forward to it as I want to test myself against bigger-name opponents to see where I’m at.”