York's George Davey will not let Josh Frankham defeat define him

The pair put their unbeaten records on the line as they met in a super welterweight clash at London’s iconic York Hall in front of the TNT Sports cameras on Friday evening.

But it was Frankham who emerged with his intact, narrowly edging the bout 76-75 after all eight rounds.

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Both admitted that it had been a 50/50 battle, but that they had wanted to test themselves against the best.

Tensions threatened to boil over at the weigh-in. (Image: Canva/Supplied)

But despite the disappointment that inevitably comes with losing his record, Davey remains positive and is determined not to let the result define him.

“Of course [the result was not what he wanted], but it’s also a positive,” he told The Press.

“It was really close, and a lot of us thought that I had it there, but it’s his card, he just got the nod and it could have gone either way.

“But there are a lot of positives to take out of it to be honest.

“It was an undefeated fight, so there was a bit more on the line.

“But it’s not a loss, it’s a learning curve.

“There’s a lot of positives to take away for me. If anything, it’s given me great exposure.

“That loss doesn’t define me. If anything, I showed a great account of myself.

“It’s just about going onwards and upwards. I’m back in the gym and in training, so hopefully I’ll get another fight soon.

Davey, who is trained by former boxing champion Henry Wharton at his gym on The Crescent, began the fight well, edging the opening round after frustrating Frankham with a combination of agile dodging and weaving and his counter-punching style.

But the Reading star found his rhythm in the second, giving Davey a taste of what to expect from his fierce right hand.

The bout's nip and tuck nature continued, with Davey happy to bide his time against a right fist that was becoming ever prominent.

It proved to be a close encounter, but Davey did drop Frankham in the sixth round. (Image: Supplied)

It looked as though that patience had paid off in the sixth round, a punch to the temple dropping Frankham as momentum again swung in Davey’s favour.

“When I dropped him, I didn’t really expect it to be fair,” Davey admitted.

“I caught him on the temple, he’s gone down, so I just tried to keep my calm.

“If there is anything that I could go back on, I wish that I maybe would have applied some pressure.

“But if anything, I just kept my cool and thought ‘I’ll get him again’, but it never happened that way.

“I just didn’t want to gas out, so to speak.”

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The pair traded blows once more, with the contest too close to call as it entered the final round.

But Frankham saw the better of the action, landing several blows on Davey’s body to seal the victory.

So close was the final result, the outcome seemed to have shocked both camps.

“At the time, I thought it was me,” Davey continued.

“We went into the centre ring but I was pretty confident. I knew that it had been close but I was raising my hand and thinking that I was going to get the decision.

“I looked over to them on their side and he wasn’t doing that, he was looking down to the floor.

“He didn’t look too confident that he was going to win it.

“When he when he announced his name, he  looked quite surprised to be honest so I think that says a lot itself.”