Davey fit and firing ahead of long-awaited return to the ring for pro bout in Perth

Just over a full year since making a successful professional boxing debut, Narrabri’s Shannan Davey will return to the ring for his second pro bout when he travels to Perth in March.

Davey, who currently lives in Brisbane and trains at The Boxing Shop, will line up opposite Douglas McDonnell in the super welterweight division at the Perth Convention Centre on Saturday, March 7 when he attempts to continue his undefeated start to his pro career.

It has been a frantic 11 months for Davey since he made his debut at the Southbank Piazza in Brisbane back on March 1 when he dominated Suitama Manuele from start to finish to win by TKO.

Since then, he has travelled abroad to three countries with the Australian amateur team and also travelled on his first international holiday. Among those highs have been several lows, which have included a relationship breakdown and relocating to Canberra for a long rehab to heal some injured muscles back to full strength.

The Narrabri boy is now fit and firing and ready to rumble ahead of his March 7 bout in Perth at the Pathway Boxing Promotions event.

“I’m absolutely buzzing and I can’t wait to get back in there,” Davey told The Courier.

“I’m fighting someone from Perth too. I’m going into someone’s backyard to fight him there. I’m not scared of anyone and I will fight anyone, anywhere.

“That’s the mentality I’ve had my whole life. I’ll never back down from a challenge.

“Douglas has fought a lot of good fighters, so he’s no slouch when it comes to experience, but we’ll see what happens on the night now.

“I can’t wait.”

Since his debut last year, Davey has worked hard to improve himself as a boxer and get his body ready to get back in the ring. He is now ready to reap the rewards as he prepares to travel to Perth.

“It’ll be a year between fights. I had my pro debut back in March and then I went on tour with the Australian amateur team to Brazil and Finland and Belgium, then I had a break and went to Japan for a holiday with my girlfriend at the time.

“I had a bit of a niggle, so I spent four months in Canberra doing rehab on my injury.

“I was at the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) for four months straight and had a really good team around me, with coaches and physios.

“We figured out what the injury was, which was good. The muscles were just not strong enough because I always had to rush my rehab. There is no off-season for a boxer, so I was always rushing my rehab and they couldn’t get strong enough.

“It was tough being away for so long. I was in a relationship at the time and that fell apart. As an athlete, having to put yourself and your career first can take a toll.

“It was very isolating and a massive growing experience for me, but I learned a lot of good lessons about things like nutrition and load management.

“I’m very blessed that I got the opportunity to do that.

“I’m strong and ready to go now.

“I got back into the gym toward the end of last year, but nothing seemed to pop up. It was a bad time of the year for a fight, but I’ve got one now.

“The way I look at it, everything happens for a reason. We’ve got this event locked in and I’m keen to get the ball rolling.

“I’m chasing world titles now and I want to take this as far as I can go.”