Lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis says light welterweight contender Gustavo Lemos has never fought anyone like him before in his career, and he’s going to show that he’s on another level to him in their 10-round headliner on November 8th at the Scopes Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) has been picked out from the 140-lb division to come down to 135 to face Keyshawn. Fans want to know why Lemos has to drain to lightweight rather than Keyshawn going up to light welterweight to face him.
They could have chosen Andy Cruz as Keyshawn’s opponent. The 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz had already called Keyshawn out for a fight numerous times since turning pro, but there’s not interest on his part.
Keyshawn claims that Cruz isn’t ready. He lost to him four times in the amateurs, yet he feels Cruz isn’t ready. That doesn’t pass the laugh test.
“Gustavo Lemos never fought anybody like me before. He never fought anybody that’s actually going to fight him back,” said Keyshawn Davis to Brian Campbell’s channel, talking about his fight against Gustavo Lemos on November 8th.
“If I don’t stop my opponent, it’s still going to be a beautiful performance. He’s going to be as tough as all my other opponents. People have got to start putting different respect on my name,” said Keyshawn when asked how tough of an opponent Gustavo Lemos would be for him.
“He fought someone on the back foot the entire time, fighting off the ropes, but he didn’t give Gustavo a fight,” said Keyshawn about Lemos’ fight against Richardson Hitchins on April 6th. “Gustavo didn’t have a real fight yet. My last fight against [Miguel] Madueno was a real fight, and y’all see what I can do. Gustavo didn’t have that yet.”
Hitchins tried to give Lemos a fight, but the powerful shots that he was getting hit with made him go into defensive mode to keep from getting knocked out. It could be the same thing from Keyshawn. He doesn’t not react well when getting hit. We saw that in his fight against Madueno and Nahir Albright.
Keyshawn was staggered by Albright in the eighth round and lucky to get the win. Top Rank backed Keyshawn off after that fight, choosing not to move him against better opposition. They obviously saw that he was not ready to be matched against better fighters, and that is why they matched him against 35-year-old Jose Pedraza. No confidence.
Keyshawn is still the same fighter that Cuban Andy Cruz beat soundly in the 2020 Olympic finals. As a pro, Keyshawn has developed bad habits due to the soft matchmaking Top Rank has fed him, and he’s not performed well.
“I know this is a step-up fight for Gustavo. This is not a step-up fight for the businessman. I’m going to show you how I handle Gustavo,” said Davis.
Keyshawn did NOT look good in his fight against Miguel Madueno on July 6th at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Top Rank-promoted Keyshawn stressed out early from the pressure and hard punches Madueno was hitting him with, not enjoying the pain from the headshots, and forced to hold.
When things got really bad, Keyshawn turned to wrestling, grabbing Madueno and using WWE tactics, picking up off the canvas and dropping him. It was no longer boxing from Keyshawn after the fourth. He had turned into a grappling affair, and the referee let him get away with the tactics without taking off points.
Lemos is made from the same mold as Madueno and will pressure Keyshawn every second of the fight. Keyshawn may use the same roughhouse tactics that he used against Madueno, counting on the referee to give him a break because he’s in his hometown of Norfolk.
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