Lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis predicts his fight against Miguel Madueño will be an “action-packed” one in their ten-round contest on Saturday night, July 6th, at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
Davis (10-0, KOs), who is coming off a sixth-round knockout win over 35-year-old veteran Jose Pedraza earlier this year on February 8th at the Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, wants to make a statement against Madueño (31-2, 28 KOs).
A Stepping Stone for Davis?
Keyshawn vs. Madueño will be fighting on the undercard of Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan. The event will be shown live on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.
Madueño lost a wide ten-round unanimous decision to Steve Claggett on November 14, 2023, in Montreal, Canada. The fight was not close, as Claggett won almost every round.
That gives one an indication of what Saturday’s fight between Keyshawn and Madueño is all about. It’s another rank-building fight for Keyshawn, but it will not prepare him to dethrone the champions at 135, Shakur, Gervonta Davis, Vasily Lomachenko or Denys Berinchyk.
Keyshawn looks like a full-fledged 140-pounder, and it’s unclear why he’s choosing to stay at 135 because he’s huge for the division. He’s friends with Shakur, so he probably will never fight him, and he may never get a chance to face Tank Davis or Lomachenko. Those are bad match-ups for Keyshawn. Lomachenko will retire without fighting Keyshawn, and Tank could move up to 140 in two or three fights.
Andy Cruz is ranked high in the 135-pound rankings, and Keyshawn has already lost four times against him in the amateur ranks. Whatever title Keyshawn could hope to capture at lightweight, he won’t hold onto it for long if Cruz becomes mandatory.
Top Rank obviously knows Keyshawn’s limitations, so they’ll likely stall the Andy Cruz fight out for as long as humanely possible to keep the inevitable from happening.
Berinchyk is the only one that Keyshawn would have a chance of beating, but that’s a tough fight for him, and he could lose that, too. If Top Rank waits for the 36-year-old Berinchyk out until he ages more, Keyshawn might be able to beat him, but not now.
“I always knew I was going to be in this position. So, it’s not really a big deal for me,” said Keyshawn Davis to Top Rank Boxing talking about being a contender at lightweight, but still not having beaten anyone yet.
Keyshawn doesn’t say what he means by being “in this position.” As far as I can tell, Keyshawn is one of many contenders, and he’s ranked below #1 William Zepeda and #2 Raymond Muratalla. He’s not going to beat those guys, and it would be a bad idea for Top Rank to put Keyshawn in with them.
“I knew I was a talented kid, and I knew I was a talented teenager. Right now, I’m just working to become a world champion. I don’t really care about being a rising star,” said Keyshawn.
Keyshawn has a lot of work to do to catch up to these talented fighters: Abdullah Mason, Andy Cruz, William Zepeda, Muratalla, and Scholfield. Keyshawn is a good fighter, but his main asset at 135 is his colossal size.
He’s a 140+ pounder who is fighting below his weight class. In other words, Keyshawn is a weight bully, and that helps, but he can’t make a career out of that unless he wants to kill himself, making weight for the next ten years.
Nahir Albright already exposed Keyshawn last October; I think that’s the reason why Top Rank slowed his development by pulling him backward to face Pedraza rather than matching him against one of these contenders: Andy Cruz, Muratalla, William Zepeda, or Floyd Schofield.
They know what they got in Keyshawn, and they’re not to ruin him by putting him in a fight he can’t win. Again, Keyshawn should move up and go after WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez because he’s showing signs of decline. Keyshawn would have a good chance of beating Teofimo if his chin holds up.
Madueño’s Power
“He’s a very aggressive fighter, and he’s relentless,” said Keyshawn about his opponent Miguel Madueño, who he faces in a ten-round undercard fight this Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Madueño, 25, does have enough power to knock out Keyshawn if he can connect with something big. Albright had Keyshawn hurt, and he’s nowhere near the puncher that Madueño is.
“I can hit him with a good shot, and I can still see him try and come and get hit and get his shots off. I think this fight is going to be a real action-type fight. I’m going to finish it,” said Keyshawn.
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