Keyshawn Davis predicts he’ll be the “Face of Boxing” and a multi-world champion and millionaire within five years. Unfortunately, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Davis (11-0, 7 KOs) hasn’t shown the talent that suggests he’ll be any of those things.
In his two toughest fights in the pro ranks against Miguel Madeuno and Nahir Albright, Keyshawn has shown a weakness in dealing with pressure. These flaws held Keyshawn back in the amateurs, causing him to lose repeatedly to Cuba’s Andy Cruz. Keyshawn stresses out when pressured and goes to pieces mentally.
In five years, the 5’9″ Keyshawn, enormous for the lightweight division, will no longer be able to melt down from welterweight. He’ll be forced to fight at 147, where he should be now, and won’t be able to compete against the more talented Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Davis is headlining against light welterweight contender Gustavo Lemos (28-1, 19 KOs) on November 8th at the Scopes Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
“First, I’ll be a millionaire,” said Keyshawn Davis to Top Rank Boxing when asked where he’ll be in five years. “I’ll be a world champ, of course. Multi-world champ by then. I see myself. Also, in five years, I think I’m going to be the Face of Boxing. I’m dead serious. I think I’m walking in that lane right now.”
It’s highly doubtful that Keyshawn can become a millionaire without beating notable world champions like Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, or Vasily Lomachenko. However, Keyshawns’ chances of fighting any of those three are slim. None of those guys will fight him before he outgrows the lightweight division.
- Vasily Lomachenko: Loma is on the verge of retirement and won’t waste his time on a newbie to the sport like Keyshawn, who has no real fanbase outside of Virgina.
- Gervonta Davis: Tank is with PBC and is very selective in who he faces.
- Shakur Stevenson: Close friends with Keyshawn.
“Coming off a fight like that, I changed the whole narrative about myself,” said Keyshawn about his ugly, foul-filled performance against Miguel Madueno on July 6th. “I’m like, ‘Damn, this kid can fight anyone of these guys out here.’”
I don’t know how Keyshawn can be proud of how he fought against Madueno last July because that was an embarrassingly poor performance for him. He was in panic mode, trying to deal with Madueno’s pressure. Keyshawn reported to using roughhouse tactics to stop the pressure.
“I’m 11-0. In five more years, that’s maybe ten more fights, 13 more fights. That’s going to be crazy by the time I’m 20-something and 0. I think I’m definitely going to be the Face of Boxing or right there. I think of it like this.
“You got Canelo, you got Terence, you got Gervonta, and you got Inoue. All these guys are considered the Face of Boxing. We got our own path of getting there. It’s just about getting there.”
Keyshawn sounds disconnected from reality because he’s not heading towards becoming the Face of Boxing. If anything, he’s heading towards hard times after he’s forced to move up to 147 and face the predators in that division, who will take advantage of his inability to handle pressure. Keyshawn struggles when pressured and always has.
“Me against Vasily Lomachenko. I feel like I’d be pushing him back most of the time. I’m faster, I’m quicker, and I’m stronger. I feel like he’s not as good going backward as he is going forward. I got the size and all the attributes to do that.
“I think I’d stop him because I got the power. You watch my last fight. I hurt the dude [Madueno] with a hook, and he was wobbling. I got that one shot to get you out of there,” said Keyshawn.
In five years, Keyshawn could be down and out if he keeps performing like he did in his last fight against Miguel Madueno. He struggled badly under the pressure from Madueno and turned the fight into a wrestling match.
I’ll never know how the referee didn’t disqualify Keyshawn because he looked like he should have been DQ’d for the WWE tactics he was using. In an oddity, WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. is fighting on the undercard rather than the main event.
Keyshawn sells tickets, so due to his uncertain future, he’s in the headliner rather than on the undercard, where he belongs. He hasn’t shown the kind of talent that would indicate that he can win a world title.
It’s unclear why Lemos is forced to move down from 140 to take this fight at 135 rather than Top Rank picking Keyshawn’s old nemesis, Cuba’s Andy Cruz, as his opponent.
Could there be some worry about Keyshawn losing to Cruz again? Cruz beat Keyshawn four times in the amateurs and made it look easy.
Top Rank is pouring money into the 25-year-old lightweight contender Keyshawn’s career, hoping he’ll pan out in the pro ranks after Cruz beat him in the finals of the 2020 Olympics.
They will have to decide soon what they’re going to do with him. In his fight against Nahir Albright last October, he looked terrible when Top Rank gave him a small step up.
Albright staggered Keyshawn in the fight round and swept the final four rounds of the fight. That fight was a red flag that Keyshawn isn’t what some had thought would be.
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