Gervonta Davis hopes tough Baltimore upbringing gives him edge over Liam Walsh

America's IBF super-featherweight champion, 22, grew up in the same deprived projects of Baltimore that inspired the harrowing television series The Wire.

The area plagued by drugs, gangs and murder almost took him in the same way it did his parents, whose drug habits led to Davis and his brother being taken by the authorities and later brought up by their grandmother.

Davis says he was supposed to feature in The Wire before he got into trouble for "running the streets", but amid the "distractions" of Baltimore he found a focus when his friend Qaadir Ford introduced him to boxing.

Ford has since died after being shot five times. However, his father Calvin - the real-life inspiration for The Wire character of boxing trainer Dennis Wise - has since led Davis to a world title and together the champion says they are saving each other from the streets.

"Baltimore, man, it made me the man I am today," Davis told Press Association Sport. "It could have made me or killed me, but I'm here, in the UK, making another step for greatness.

"It was like they say, like The Wire, or a little bit worse. It was really hard, growing up in Baltimore. There was a lot of killing and things like that. A lot of distractions: it was 'I'm in the gym or I'm in the streets', and I chose the gym.

"My coach came from the streets, he was deeper in the streets than I was - he was actually brought up on the streets, he actually was a kickboxer before he got into boxing.

"He's saving my life and I'm also saving his life. One of his top fighters before me, Ramone Manley, is in jail. Calvin was on the verge of going back to the streets, then I came around.

"I saved his life just as well as he saved my life. They call Ramone 'Diddy'."

Davis, whose 16 stoppages from 17 professional wins have ensured his emergence as one of the world's finest prospects, is a more aggressive fighter than his promoter Mayweather.

The latter also had a troubled upbringing in Las Vegas that contributed much to his dedication to his craft, and his pursuit of riches that have reached an estimated £510million, and Davis revealed he similarly has long been studying Walsh.

"I knew he was mandatory for (Jose) Pedraza (who Davis defeated to win the title)," he said. "I also watched a few of his fights, so I knew that he was a great fighter.

"I watched many fighters in my weight class, knowing one day that we will meet.

"I always said if ever there was anybody I would sign for, it was Floyd Mayweather. Two or three years later I was signed with Floyd Mayweather.

"Boxing's never easy, it just made me more dedicated to the sport - giving my team, my close ones a chance, an experience, bigger than Baltimore."