Trainer Greg Hackett sees a fight between 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis and Gervonta Davis as a “50-50” contest. Hackett believes the 25-year-old Keyshawn’s Olympic experience (11-0, 7 KOs) would offset what Tank Davis does.
Hackett believes Keyshawn can beat Tank, Devin Haney, and someone named “Vargas.” I think he meant William Zepeda because there is no one named Vargas at 135.
Keyshawn recently mentioned in an interview with Top Rank that he believes he would beat these three:
– Gervonta Davis
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Devin Haney
Keyshawn didn’t mention his old nemesis, Cuba’s Andy Cruz, who schooled him four times in the amateur ranks, including in the 2020 Olmpic finals. That was a fight in which Keyshawn looked like he lost his mind after the fight, jumping on the ring ropes and celebrating like he’d won while Cruz was dancing around the ring.
In the pro ranks, Cruz looks far more advanced than Keyshawn and appears to be heading towards a world title in 2025. Top Rank should have signed Andy Cruz out of the Olympics, not Keyshawn. That was a bizarre move on their part, especially given that he lost to Cruz four times.
Keyshawn’s recent performances against Miguel Madueno and Nahir Albright cast a dark cloud over his career, making many believe he won’t pan out as a pro.
Top Rank tossed a gimme Keyshawn in what appeared to be an effort to mentally rebuild him after his fight against Albright in which he was hurt. In Keyshawn’s last fight, Top Rank matched him against Madueno, and he fell apart again, going into panic mode after being hit hard repeatedly by the Mexican slugger.
Keyshawn went full WWE, wrestling and fouling Madueno, trying every trick in the book to save his hide from getting beaten up. The referee should have disqualified Keyshawn by the fifth but failed to do the right thing. He was the A-side, so it’s not surprising that he got away with murder against Madueno.
“This is where you’ve got to be fair with Keyshawn. He has more experience in boxing than those guys as far as the [Olympic] silver medal,” said trainer Greg Hackett to Fighthype, reacting to being told that Keyshawn Davis thinks he would beat Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and someone named ‘Vargas,’ Which he never once mentioned in his recent interview. In the actual interview, Keyshawn said he could beat Tank, Vasily Lomachenko, and Haney.
“Obviously, when you’re fighting in the Olympics, you’re fighting the best in the world. Even though it’s only three rounds, you’re fighting the best in the world. You’re under great pressure because it’s only three rounds. When you turn pro, you’ve got to pro yourself in six, eight, and ten rounds; Keyshawn has been doing that. So, I can’t say Keyshawn is tripping.
“He has qualities that those other guys [Lomachenko, Tank, and Haney] may or may not have, but he’s showing he’s a real fighter,” Hackett continued with the glazing of Keyshawn. “Let’s talk about it. His last fight [Miguel Madueno] was a hell of a fight to be in.”
I don’t know what Hackett is talking about because Keyshawn looks poor compared to Lomachenko, Tank Davis, Haney, and William Zepeda. Maybe Hackett was half asleep when he watched Keyshawn because he doesn’t belong in the same galaxy as those fighters talent-wise. Keyshawn looks like he doesn’t have the mental game to handle stress and goes into a panic when he deals with pressure.
“He got caught with some good shots. I watched him adjust three times in that fight. Right after that, to fight Lemos at home. Come on, bro. That’s a dog. Lemos is a gangster. So for Keyshawn to take that fight, I like Keyshawn,” said Hackett about Keyshawn.
I saw one adjustment from Keyshawn for his last fight against Madueno: He turned the match into a WWE wrestling contest after the Mexican fighter worked him over early in the contest.
From there, Keyshawn never made any adjustments besides adding fouling with rabbit punches, low blows, and shoving. It was ugly to watch. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall at Top Rank’s HQ when listening to them talk about Keyshawn’s performance.
They must think about an exit strategy to dump him because this wasn’t his first poor performance. He looked equally bad against Albright.
“I like Keyshawn against Vargas [?] because Vargas is not ready,” said Hackett, who may be confusing Vargas with William Zepeda. There is no one named Vargas in the top 15 at lightweight. “Devin is 50-50 [against Keyshawn] because Dev can box. Tank is 50-50. Tank can punch and box. Keyshawn can give them all trouble, but I don’t know if he’ll beat Dev or Tank.”
I watched the Keyshawn vs. Madueno fight, and the only thing that stood out was Davis turning the match into a WWE wrestling clash after he started getting worked over.
He was picking Madueno off the floor and getting away with it. Keyshawn spent the remainder of the fight holding, shoving, grappling, and throwing rabbit punches. He should have been penalized multiple times by the referee, who let him get away with murder.
Hackett sounds like he didn’t watch the fight, but if he did, he didn’t have his eyes open. That was not an impressive performance by Keyshawn. It was one of pure panic because he was falling apart as he did in the 2020 Olympics against Cuba’s Andy Cruz.
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