BOXER George Davey marked his lengthy absence from the ring with arguably his best performance to date, sealing a stylish victory over Jeff Thomas.

The bout was Davey's first in 10 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, though there was to be no soft touch upon his return as he faced veteran Thomas, who boasted 12 wins from 22 fights before the contest.

Fighting live on BT Sport at London's prestigious York Hall on the undercard to Josh Taylor's successful unified world super-lightweight title defence against Apinun Khongsong, there was no shortage of pressure upon Davey either.

Thomas started the contest brightly and was quick to catch Davey with some accurate jabs in the opening minute of the fight.

But Davey responded well, showcasing his trademark head movement in defence to evade any more shots and replying with some tidy work of his own for the rest of the round.

Davey's defence continued to negate much of Thomas' work in the second round as the York boxer stepped up a gear to strike to the body and land a couple of flush left hands, partially breaking the Blackpool man's tight guard.

Into the third, Davey landed a crisp right hand and another flurry of body shots, though Thomas' movement ensured that he remained a difficult target to pin down.

Thomas made an eager start in the first seconds of the fourth and last stanza though Davey beautifully read the move and picked him off with a counter shot.

Davey was able to plant his feet and land more shots against Thomas while on the ropes but he didn't have it all his own way as the 22-year-old was caught with a well-timed Thomas left hook - his best punch of the fight - in the final seconds.

Referee Bob Williams gave every round to Davey as he won a 40-36 decision.

The victory means that Davey moves his professional record to three wins from as many fights, having not yet lost a round in any of those contests.