Keyshawn Davis doesn’t mind dealing with a full plate – including the ones his Friday night opponent, Gustavo Lemos, apparently cleaned before missing weight by more than six pounds Thursday.
While Davis 11-0 (7 KOs) opted to move ahead with tonight’s homecoming fight in Norfolk, Va., an ESPN+ main event after Argentina’s Lemos came in at 141.4 pounds for the 135-pound bout Friday morning, he also is biting off a lot regarding his future.
At today’s check weigh-in, Davis was 141.2 pounds and Lemos was 144.6lbs.
Victory tonight moves Davis toward a WBO lightweight title shot at new champion Denys Berinchyk.
And the 2021 Olympic silver medalist wants more than that, getting into a spat on “X” this week with unbeaten three-division and current WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Keyshawn Davis, making note of “Tank” Davis’ occasionally falling behind on scorecards before dropping his hammer punches on foes, said on “X,” “let me get up 4-5 rounds straight on (you) and watch what I do to you … .”
Gervonta Davis later posted an old text where Keyshawn Davis was asking him for career assistance, with “Tank” lamenting, “They be so humble at first … .”
On Thursday’s edition of ProBox TV’s “Top Stories,” analyst and former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri said he doesn’t mind Keyshawn Davis’ bold behavior.
“Not at all … with his amateur background and pedigree, the brass (he’s displaying) … we’re in the world of social media. Fights are made by that, or you can get a lot of attention. We’re talking about it now,” Algieri said.
Much more will be known about Davis following the challenge of taking on the overweight Lemos 29-1 (19 KOs), a rugged fighter who gave current title contender Richardson Hitchins all he wanted in April.
“A lot will be answered by Lemos. This guy is no joke,” said Algieri, who said he discussed the difficult assignment with Top Rank Vice President Carl Moretti. “(Moretti) said, ‘Lemos is tough, but Keyshawn wants this.’
“If you’re saying this fight’s going to happen, you’re looking for all the smoke. Too much too soon? I like it. If you’re going to be brash, I’m all for it.”
Former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi said he also admires Keyshawn Davis’ ambition, cautioning that the talk of a “Tank” Davis fight is complicated by the long-icy divide between rival promoters Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions.
“It’s not the easiest fight to make … I don’t know if Top Rank would risk their guy against Gervonta Davis. Gervonta Davis would fight anyone, Keyshawn is a little green behind the ears,” Malignaggi said. “There’s time for the kid to do this. But if not for promotional hurdles, it wouldn’t shock me to make this fight. He has a solid reputation, he’s a silver medalist … . You can sell it.”
Gervonta Davis is awaiting the early 2025 scheduling of his next title defense, against super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach.
Algieri said fighters with a decorated amateur past move faster than they did a generation ago, when it used to require 20-plus fights to reach a title fight.
“Vasiliy Lomachenko (in two fights) destroyed that,” Algieri reminded. “These newer guys are moving much quicker.”
Malignaggi praised Keyshawn Davis’ excellence with “discipline and range control.”
But he takes issue with the emerging talk that Gervonta Davis takes too long to get to the knockout, risking a defeat on the scorecards if he can’t land a defining finish.
“Gervonta knows exactly how to beat you,” Malignaggi said.
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