Keyshawn Davis: Andy Cruz is not ready

Keyshawn Davis says a fight against Cuban 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz is a “priority,” but he “is not ready” to fight him. Davis (11-0, 7 KOs), who has been beaten four times by Cruz, says a fight against Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) has to happen “at the right time.”

Some feel that Keyshawn never wants to fight Cruz again after his bad experiences, losing him repeatedly in the amateurs. Cruz’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says he wants to make that fight, and he’s confident his fighter will beat again.

Keyshawn can’t afford another loss to Cruz, so it’s understandable why he shows no interest in fighting him again. Cruz dominated him in his fights in the amateur ranks. The 25-year-old Keyhawn has had trouble beating the fighters Top Rank matches him against.

It is reasonable to conclude that Keyshawn will NEVER fight Cruz because Top Rank knows the end result of that fight. Plus, Cruz is a huge talent be detected quickly by Eddie Hearn to a world title. Cruz will likely be a world champion by 2025. He has superstar written all over him and is on a different plane than Keyshawn.

Unfortunately, Keyshawn doesn’t look like he’s going to pan out at the pro level, at least at 135. If he can move up to 140 or 147, he might be able to capture a belt in those depleted divisions, which are barren of talent.

They’ve tried to develop Davis, but he’s struggling against guys he shouldn’t be if he was the real thing. Keyshawn’s battles against Nahir Albright and Miguel Madueno showed that Top Rank will have to be very careful with him to prevent him from losing.

Obviously, that’s not what they were counting on when they signed Keyshawn out of the Olympics. They should have expected that without the extensive development he would be able to hit the ground running.

Next month, Keyshawn fights Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) in a 10-round fight at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia on November 8th. The event will be shown on ESPN+.

Keyshawn says he handpicked Lemos after Top Rank offered him the 38-year-old Nicholas Walters as an opponent for the 8th November date. He felt that because of his age, he would not get any credit for beating Walters. Keyshawn may not have realized why he was offered Walters. He looked so weak in his fight against Madueno that it was understandable why Top Rank offered Walters.

It was the same thing after Keyshawn worked against Nahir Albright, got messed up in that fight and barely won. In Keyshawn’s next fight, Top Rank beat the faded 35-year-old Jose Pedraza rather than continue to move forward with a better opponent, which they would have done had he looked good against Albright.

“It is definitely a priority. It just has to happen at the right time,” Keyshawn Davis told Brian Campbell’s channell when asked about his interest in fighting 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who has beaten him repeatedly in the amateur ranks and has racked up victory after victory.

“I don’t think he’s ready. We reached out last time just like we reached out to Gustavo (Lemos). We have already reached out to Andy Cruz them. They said they don’t want to fight me now. I’m not lying. So, I did my part. He is not ready. He is definitely a priority. So, whenever he’s ready, whenever his promoter and manager are ready, we can make it happen.

“No,” Keyshawn said when asked if Cruz lived up to expectations as a pro. “Think of me as a silver medalist. I got the boxing world hot now. I’m not right now. Andy Cruz is like dull. He’s not hot. People don’t go out of their way to watch him fight.

“People are still in the concession stands when he fights. He is not at my level in terms of performance. He doesn’t perform the way I perform, and that’s proof in the pudding. Go back and watch both of our fights. He doesn’t act like I act,” Keyshawn said of Cruz.