Eddie Hearn says it’s eating away at Keyshawn Davis, having lost four times to Cuban Andy Cruz in the amateurs, and he believes he’s going to want to prove that he’s the better fighter in the pros.
Davis has repeatedly refused to fight Cruz, saying he’s beneath him and that he has nothing to gain from fighting him. It just sounds like old-fashioned, flat-out fear on Keyshawn’s part, not wanting to get beaten and have his career fall apart before it’s even begun.
Cruz’s Threat
Hearn feels a fight between highly ranked lightweight contender Keyshawn (12-0, 8 KOs) and Cruz (4-0, 2 Kos) would have a great build-up due to their rivalry.
He says that if Davis captures the WBO lightweight title from champion Denys Berinchyk next month on February 14th, he may want to put things right with Cruz.
Andy is fighting tonight against Omar Salcido(20-1, 14 KOs) in a 10-round co-feature on the Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson card at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. If Cruz looks vulnerable in this fight, it may give Keyshawn some courage to fight him finally.
Keyshawn said this week that his focus is winning the the WBO belt from Berinchyk, then looking for a unification fight against the IBF champion Vasily Lomachenko. He’s counting on Top Rank being able to line that fight up for him.
That’s not happening, but that’s Keyshawn’s desperate hope. He won’t fight his friend, Shakur Stevenson, and Gervonts Davis isn’t going to waste his time fighting him. That leaves Cruz.
“If I was Top Rank, I wouldn’t be looking at Andy Cruz because you’ll use the excuse, ‘Ah, no one knows who he is yet. He’s only had five fights.’ Let’s be honest; the buildup, the rivalry, the history is a great fight to make,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype when asked if he’d like to make a fight between lightweight contender Andy Cruz and Keyshawn Davis in 2025.
“I know Keyshawn, he’s a competitor, and by the way, he’s improved. He’s always been a great fighter. He’s very good, Keyshawn, and maybe he can beat Andy Cruz. He’s [Davis] lost to him four times in the amateurs. He’s never been close to beating him, and everyone will say, ‘Yeah, but the amateurs is the amateurs.’
“Yeah, it is, but he’s [Keyshawn] has still never beaten him, and it will eat him up. I know Keyshawn is a winner, and that will eat him up. He will want to put that right in the pros. So, he’ll [Davis] will beat [WBO lightweight champion Denys] Berinchyk [on February 14th] in style, but who knows? Andy has got to win [against Omar Salcido]. It’s not an easy fight,’ said Hearn.
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