Trainer Greg Hackett is picking Keyshawn Davis to knock out WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk in their next fight on February 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hackett believes that the 36-year-old Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) is past his prime and is perfect for Keyshawn (12-0, 8 KOs) to knock out.
Davis is not a knockout, and he got hurt trying to BUY Nahir Albright. Berinchyk has the skills and more than enough power to expose Keyshawn and show fans that he is still the same fighter who beat Cuba’s Andy Cruz four times.
Berinchyk’s Technical Edge
Top Rank is working on Davis like crazy, trying to turn him into a star without putting him in a risky fight against Cruz or some of the other killers.
They were wrong in their last fight involving Berinchyk when they pitted popular Mexican fighter Emanuel Navarrete against him, only to see the Ukrainian talent beat him. Now, it’s Keyshawn’s turn. If he loses this fight to Berinchyk, you can bet Top Rank will keep their fighters far away from him.
“Keyshawn put up a hell of a fight in his last show (against Gustavo Lemos). He has a tough man in front of him. This guy, Berinchyk, is not sweet, but he is not at his peak. He is past his prime. He can fight and all that, but he’s past his prime,” trainer Greg Hackett said YSM Sports Mediatalks about WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk, who will next challenge Keyshawn Davis on February 14th.
“I think Keysahwn is going to overwork him and stop him in the eighth round. However, he is going to change his mind. A good jab, a good right hand. Keyshawn in this fight is going to have to slow things down. Don’t go rushing there, looking for a knockout. I’m not saying he went there looking for a knockout against Lemos.
“It happened because Lemos forced the action. In this one, Berinchyk is going to be a little more strategic. He’s going to poke at him a little. So in this one he (Davis) has to take his time, break him down, go to that body a little bit, sneak some uppercuts in there and sneak some hooks in there,” Hackett said.
Davis’ win over Gustavo Lemos was due to his fight with a short, 5’5 1/2″, slow fighter who was coming off a loss to Richardson Hitchins and drained from 140 to take the fight. Keyshawn handpicked him. Davis saw Lemos being beaten by Hitchins.
Why not Andy Cruz?
These are the questions you have to ask Davis: Why choose a fighter coming off a loss fighting at light welterweight? Andy Cruz was available at 135, and he had already beaten Keyshawn four times.
“Keyshawn is going to slow him down, and in the eighth round he’s going to stop him. Not housekeeping, but this one, we’re going to talk a little bit, but not housekeeping,” Hackett said when asked if this fight would make Keyshawn Davis a household name if he prevails against Berinchyk.
“For housekeeping he’s going to need a Teo (Lopez), he’s going to need an ‘Africa’ (Richardson Hitchins). He’s going to need someone to be a household. It has to be one of them, ‘Oh, okay.’ This one is: ‘Oh okay, I see you, but I need ‘no, okay. You ain’t f**** around.’” Hackett said.
For Keyshawn to become a household name, he will need to beat these fighters:
- Gervonta Davis
- Shakur Stevenson
- Andy Cruz
- Edwin Delos Santos
- William Zepeda
Unfortunately, Keyshawn probably won’t fight any of those guys, so he may never become a household name. He will only be known to hardcore boxing fans. What he needs to do is move up to 147 and take on Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to see if he can beat him. He’s the same size as Boots, and if he wins, he’ll be a household name.
A welterweight in disguise?
He probably won’t, though, because Ennis will beat him, and he won’t want to risk it. Keyshawn should fight at 147 because he is a welterweight in size. If Boots wanted to game the system, he would do the same thing Keyshawn is by draining down to 135 to fight smaller guys, but he’s brave and won’t pull such a weak move.
“If he gives me two bodies, we’re missing one more body. I need three. I need them to really fall,” Hackett said when asked if Keyshawn needed a knockout against Berinchyk. “It’s going to be a good one though. Berinchyk is going to bring out some tricks. So, that’s why I say that Keyshawn needs to be patient.”
Keyshawn isn’t a knockout, so Hackett had things wrong about him because he’s never been that type of fighter. His recent KO against Lemos was due to him fighting a small 5’5″ guy with no hand speed who was like a Neanderthal man. He is made to order for him or any fighter at 135.
“Don’t be greedy in this battle. Choose at your job. Don’t be greedy. Not everything, but he’s going to have to bring out some sets of equipment,” Hackett said of Davis. “He’s going to bring everything, but he doesn’t need the big bag, but he’s going to need a bag,” Hackett said of whether Davis will need to bring everything to defeat Berinchyk.
Davis will get greedy and try to score a knockout against Berinchyk. This is going to lead to him getting clipped just like he was in his fight against Nahir Albright, which left him reeling in the eighth round when he tried to hit him.
Cruz lessons
“He won’t need to bring everything because it won’t be all in front of you,” Hackett said. “Sometimes we think we need a lot, but sometimes all you need is a basic jab, a basic right hand and a basic hook with good distance. Sometimes that’s all you need. He maybe need a little more than that, but he’s not going to need everything.
“That’s what we sometimes think. He just needs a good, solid bag,” Hackett said, sounding like a cheerleader for Keyshawn.
Davis will need a lot more than a “study bag” to defeat Berinchyk, because this guy is technically a better fighter than him, with a lot more amateur and pro experience. Keyshawn was outclassed by Cuba’s Andy Cruz, who beat him for the fourth time in the 2020 Olympics. He exposed himself again for being a limited fighter with little more than a jab.
