YORK’S newest professional boxer George Davey says that he’ll thrive upon the nerves as he prepares to make his debut at the Leeds Arena in October.

Following a successful spell in the amateurs, Davey makes his first professional appearance on the undercard to Josh Warrington’s IBF world title defence against Sofiane Takoucht on October 12.

The 21-year-old won international tournaments in Denmark and the Netherlands as well as a couple of Haringey Cups at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Now Davey steps into the professional part of the sport, the crowds and outside attention will increase. He believes his performances will do likewise.

“I’m very excited for my professional debut,” said Davey.

“It’s going to be an excellent bill and there’s some excellent fights on the undercard.

“I feel really fortunate to have been picked to fight on the card.

“I’ve had a long camp to prepare and get myself ready and I can’t wait to show off my skills.

“I’m lost for words about being on a show of this size. Before I turned professional, I thought that I’d have to start at the bottom, on the small hall circuit - I don’t mean any offence to lads that do that.

“But I’ve been thrown in at the deep end on the undercard to a world title fight. I believe that I thrive on nerves and that I’ll be able to put in a strong performance.

“It’s going to be a great experience. I’m just excited to get going now.”

Davey will be trained and managed by York boxing legend Henry Wharton - the three-time world title challenger and European, Commonwealth and British champion during the 1990s.

Last month, the pair travelled to Tenerife before returning to Henry’s Gym in Acomb where they will train for the rest of their camp.

“I did a mini training camp out in Tenerife with Henry,” said Davey.

“I’ve got myself a personal trainer to work on my strength and conditioning, while the work I’ll do with Henry will be more technical.

“So during this camp, I’ll have two sessions every day, potentially three.

Securing Davey’s fights will be the Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren, who he has signed a deal with, the promoter who also works with current and former world champions Tyson Fury, Warrington and Carl Frampton.

“We drove down to Frank Warren’s offices in London,” explained Davey.

“I have to say I was very nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, whether he wanted me to sign the contract there and then or he just wanted to see what I was like as a person.

“He sat us down and instantly said ‘let’s get this started’.

“Me and Henry were absolutely ecstatic. It’s a big move for my career.”

It wasn’t the original intention of Davey and Wharton at the start of this summer though.

“The plan was to win the Haringey Cup, which we did and fight in a few more international tournaments before the end of the year,” added Davey.

“We were going to fight in some more international tournaments, then we were going to go professional next year.

“But, I won the Haringey Cup quite convincingly, dropping my opponent and then stopping him in the second round.

“Henry was really pleased with my performance and said that now was the time to move into the professional game.

“I’ve got a lot of trust in Henry so I followed his advice and here we are.”

To contact Davey for tickets, call him at 07775 290853 or call Wharton at 07415 993415.