Keyshawn Davis confirmed today that his next fight will be against WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk for his belt. The date and location have yet to be determined.
Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) already knew he was facing Berinchyk for his title before his last fight against Gustavo Lemos on November 8th. Top Rank had set it up with the WBO for the Keyshawn vs. Lemos match to determine the mandatory for Berinchyk.
Clout Chasing
Interestingly, Keyshawn still used the post-fight interview spotlight to call out WBA champion Gervonta Davis. That means he was just clout-chasing to get cheap attention for himself. Keyshawn just used Gervonta’s name to help him get more attention from fans, which is pathetic when you think about it.
Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) recently captured the vacant WBO 135-lb title with a 12-round split decision win over Emanuel Navarrete on May 18th. That would have worked better for Top Rank if Navarrete had won because that would have set up a better in-house match between him and Keyshawn. Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn won’t be nearly as big a fight.
It would look a lot better if Keyshawn fought his four-time conquer, Andy Cruz, instead of the 36-year-old Berinchyk, who is slow and not exactly young. Keyshawn’s excuse for not fighting Cruz is that he’s “Not ready” and “That man ain’t trying to fight me. I will knock him out.”
Cruz then reacted to those comments by saying he did want the fight. Cruz basically made it clear that Keyshawn had made up about of whole cloth about him not wanting to fight him.
WBO Title Won’t Help Keyshawn
Keyshawn badly wants to be a champion, but he doesn’t want to go through Andy Cruz to get the belt. He believes getting his title will open the doors to a massive payday against WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis. Keyshawn could be kidding himself because capturing the WBO belt from Berinchyk won’t make Tank want to fight him.
What will happen is Keyshawn will rot with the title, fighting no-name opposition until he can no longer make the 135-lb weight limit. That might be soon because he already looks like a welterweight now. He won’t be able to keep draining down from the 150s to fight at lightweight for six to ten years, waiting for the King of the division, Tank Davis, to fight him.
Bernardo Osuna: “It’s just beginning for you at the elite level. Now, you become the WBO mandatory challenger for Denys Berinchyk’s title. What has the discussion been since your big performance with Top Rank, and what’s next for you?
Keyshawn Davis: “I’m not going to drop the location yet, but for sure, Denys Berinchyk is my next opponent. He’s an undefeated fighter, a pressure fighter. He’s from Ukraine and is friends with Lomachenko and Usyk. He’s a great fighter.
“I feel like he’s slept on. It’s crazy. Last year, we were supposed to get in a fight with him, but now that he’s a world champion, everything works out for the greater good. I feel like going into this fight, it’s going to be another exciting fight.
“This is not a boring fight. I know people are going to come out and support us and see what ‘The Businessman’ is going to show that night.”
If the fight is Norfolk like Keyshawn’s last one against Lemos, Berinchyk might not have any chance at all of winning. If goes to the scorecards, do you think the judges will give it to the visiting fighter? I don’t. Berinchyk was almost robbed in his last fight against Navarrete on May 18th in San Diego, California. Many fans had Berinchyk winning 10-2, but one judge scored it for Navarrete. That was insane.
Berinchyk-Navarrete scores
115-113: Berinchyk
116-112: Navarrete
116-112: Berinchyk
Title fight coming next for @KeyshawnDavis8? 👀
(@OsunaESPN | @ESPNRingside) pic.twitter.com/hsJjnaixNl
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 18, 2024
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