YORK boxing prospect George Davey will make his long-awaited return to the ring on September 26.

The undefeated super-welterweight, who has won both of his two professional fights to date, has been out of action since late November, having seen his proposed May bout cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Now though Davey has a new date to train towards with the 22-year-old to face Jeff Thomas (who has 12 wins from 22 bouts) over four rounds at the BT Sport Studio in Stafford, London on Saturday, September 26.

The show, run by Davey's promoted Frank Warren and fellow Hall of Famer Bob Arum, will be headlined by undefeated unified WBA and IBF super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor, who defends his titles against the unbeaten Apinun Khongsong.

It continues Davey's run of fighting on the undercard to world title fights since turning professional in October.

"I'm very excited, because it's been a long time coming," said Davey.

"Me and Henry (Wharton, trainer and manager) have been training really hard so it's really nice to hear the news that we've got a fight date.

"Training has stepped up already, and we've really been stepping things up a gear.

"Previously, I've been sparring my stable mates but now things have turned up a bit and we're sparring different lads from all around different parts of the county.

"We had quite a hard session last week running up the White Horse. We're not burning ourselves out but we're working hard so that we can be bang on that night."

The pandemic has meant that most small hall boxing shows are unable to go ahead.

Instead boxing has been primarily limited to televised shows, as much Davey feels proud to be a part of.

"It's an absolute honour," he added. "I'm really privileged to be on one of these shows.

"I know that Frank will only be wanting to put on his top fighters so it's a real privilege to be on this show with Josh Taylor headlining. It's absolute honour.

"I'm excited about fighting behind closed doors. It's going to be a different experience, but bring it on."

And while 10 months out is a longer break than Davey would have liked, he's making no excuses heading into the contest.

"It's very odd because I've been used to fighting regularly," he said. "Even when I first turned pro, I had two fights in the space of a month.

"So now, in this period, it's the longest that I've ever been out for. Even when I broke my jaw, I only had four months out!

"Obviously, as an up-and-coming prospect you want to be in the ring all of the time fighting because that's when you're learning. This time that I've got now is a crucial one for me to get lots of fights in and learn from them. It's a bit of an odd period and maybe it's been a bit of a setback but I've got to overcame that and do what I can.

"There may be a little bit of ring rust but we're not going to think about that, we'll go in there in the best form that we can. It's frustrating to go from fighting all the time to being out for a while, but everyone is in the same shoes as me. I can't complain."

The move for Davey to fight Thomas represents a significant step up in opposition, with the Netherlands-born fighter his first opponent with a winning record.

The show, which will be broadcast on BT Sport and ESPN+ in America, also features former world flyweight champion Charlie Edwards, who faces Kyle Williams, as well as a WBO European super bantamweight contest between champion Lee Haskins and challenger Jeff Thomas.

Ex-world amateur champion Willy Hutchinson is also set to fight for the vacant IBF European title while Northampton's Eithan James is also on the bill. Both boxers have yet to have their opponents confirmed.