Keyshawn Davis went to war with the tough Miguel Madueno for ten rounds, wearing down the puncher to win an ugly, foul-filled unanimous decision in lightweight action last Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
It was a masterful display of dirty boxing by Keyshawn, which arguably should have resulted in him being penalized three or four times.
Keyshawn’s Roughhouse Tactics
The 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) turned the fight into an ugly wrestling contest after five rounds, roughing up Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs) in an attempt to neutralize the nonstop pressure he was putting on him.
Keyshawn was uncomfortable with Madueno’s power but lacked the skills to slow him down without using holding and roughhouse tactics.
The judges scored it 99-91, 99-91 and 99-91. It was a far closer fight than the ones turned in by the three judges, as Madueno appeared to win four of the ten rounds against the highly hyped, Top Rank-promoted lightweight contender Keyshawn.
Keyshawn’s performance showed he is a flawed contender and unprepared for a world title shot in 2025. He’s not on the same level as the WBO champion Denys Berinchyk he’s targeting, nor is he anywhere close to contenders Andy Cruz and Abdullah Mason.
In the first five rounds, Keyshawn, 25, traded power shots with Madueno in a messy back-and-forth contest. After the fifth, Keyshawn looked desperate and changed tactics to turn the fight dirty.
Roughhouse tactics Keyshawn Davis used
- Illegal straight arm
- Shoving
- Lifting Madueno up
- Punching to the back
- Clinching each time, Madueno got close
Of those tactics, Keyshawn’s excessive clinching arguably saved him from being knocked out by Madueno because he was taking a lot of punishment from the powerful Mexican fighter.
The referee would have been within his rights to penalize Keyshawn for his nonstop clinching because it was his main tactic to prevent Madueno from throwing punches, and it was constant. Keyshawn couldn’t fight Madueno in a one-on-war the way more talented fighters at lightweight would have done.
What was interesting about the fight was that Keyshawn lifted Madueno off the canvas early on without being warned by the referee for his wrestling move.
Later, when Madueno made the same move, the referee warned him, which looked odd. Where was the warning for Keyshawn when he lifted Madueno off the canvas? It gave the impression that Madueno was fighting under a different set of rules than the A-side Keyshawn.
Top Rank’s Nightmare
Without the talent to do that, Keyshawn grabbed Madueno and held repeatedly. Along with the holding, Keyshawn roughed up Madueno with wrestling, shoving, and shots to the back.
This was supposed to be a showcase fight for Keyshawn against a beatable fighter that Steve Claggett had recently dominated. Still, Madueno was a nightmare for the Top Rank-promoted Davis.
Keyshawn’s performance against Madueno doesn’t paint a pretty bleak picture for Top Rank, who had hoped to turn the Virginia native into a star. That doesn’t look realistic. It was the second abysmal performance by Keyshawn since he turned pro and even worse than his narrow win over Nahir Albright.
Keyshawn has no talent to beat many contenders at 135, like Andy Cruz, Abdullah Mason, William Zepeda, and Floyd Schofield. He cannot defeat WBO champion Berinchyk if that’s the guy that Top Rank is aiming Keyshawn towards.
Top Rank may need to cash out Keyshawn before it’s too late because he won’t go far if he can’t beat a ham-and-egger fighter like Madueno without resorting to nonstop clinching and roughhouse tactics. It would be better for Top Rank to cut their losses while still ahead and not pour money into this albatross.
Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out with a fighter, and you have to cut them loose to focus on the real talents in your stable.
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