When his social media followers asked last Saturday night, Keyshawn Davis dismissed the idea of fighting newly crowned IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins.
Richardson would be pure trouble due to his boxing skills, power, pinpoint accuracy, and his mobility. His ring IQ is on another level than Keyshawn’s, and he’s capable of beating him like Cuba’s Andy Cruz did four times in the past.
The lightweight contender Keyshawn (12-0, 8 KOs) feels that he’s above Hitchins (19-0, 8 KOs) due to the recent turnout of fans for his last fight on November 8th against Gustavo Lemos at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The attendance for Keyshawn’s homecoming fight against the light welterweight Lemos was 10,568.
The Businessman’s Strategy
Davis sees the attendance numbers and his second-round knockout win over Lemos (29-2, 19 KOs) as indications that he’s one of the “elites” in the 135-lb division. However, the 5’5″ Lemos looked weight-drained after being hand-picked by Davis for this fight. That performance only showed that Keyshawn could be a drained, slow, tiny fighter that doesn’t belong fighting at 135.
Keyshawn could have selected lightweight contender Andy Cruz, a fighter with a 4-0 record against him from the amateurs, including in the 2020 Olympic finals, but he wanted Lemos. Interestingly, he was coming off a loss to Hitchins on April 6th.
Instead of Davis taking on Cruz, he chose a recently beaten fighter, and now he’s classifying himself as one of the “elites” at 135. Here is a classic example of matchmaking 101: creating a manufactured star. You can’t blame Keyshawn for the hustle. The fans are the ones that can’t see what’s happening.
Hitchins looked amazing last Saturday night on December 7, outboxing light welterweight champion Liam Paro (25-1, 15 KOs), winning a 12-round split decision at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The scores were 116-112, 116-112 for Hitchins, and 117-111. I had it 10-2 for Hitchins.
“Y’all keep talking about Hitchins. F*** Hitchins. I don’t care about him,” said Keyshawn Davis on social media last Saturday following Richardson Hitchins’ masterclass performance against IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Bro already knows what it is when it comes to me. I’m 12-0, with eight knockouts, about to fight for a world title [against WBO 140-lb champion Denys Berinchyk], 13-0. I’m knocking people out, putting on insane performances, selling out arenas with 10,000 fans [Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia].
“What can you say, bro? 11,000 fans. Y’all can’t really say too much. That’s what I’m saying,” said Davis.
Keyshawn says he’s going to be fighting WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) next in February. That guy is perceived as the weakest link among the champions at lightweight, but he’s got a good chance of beating Keyshawn. As we saw in Davis’ fight against Nahir Albright, he’s still the same fighter that Cruz beat in the Olympics. He hasn’t improved at all.
Keyshawn’s success since turning pro in 2021 is a product of soft Berlanga-esque matchmaking and his being bigger than the guys he’s been fighting.
Is Keyshawn An Elite?
“I proved that I’m with the elites. I’m not just a fighter out here making noise. I’m with the elites,” said Keyshawn to Mark Kriegel of ESPN. “I also sell. There were 10,000 fans, and all 10,000 fans got a good view of who ‘The Businessman’ was that night,” said Davis about his win over Lemos on November 8th in Norfolk.
Selling 10,000+ tickets doesn’t mean that Keyshawn is a star. It just means that Norfolk fans are willing to come to watch him fight, which may reflect that being a town with little entertainment compared to the big cities.
If Davis were from Los Angeles or New York, he wouldn’t draw in those cities because there are too many other sources of entertainment for fans. You must produce in those areas or have an amazing Ryan Garcia-like following on social media.
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