Keyshawn Davis confirmed today that his next fight will be against WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk for his belt. The date and place have yet to be determined.
Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) already knew he was facing Berinchyk for his title before his last fight against Gustavo Lemos on November 8th. Top Rank partnered with the WBO for the Keyshawn vs. Lemos match set up to determine the mandatory for Berinchyk.
Clout Chase
Interestingly, Keyshawn still used the spotlight after the fight interview to call out WBA champion Gervonta Davis. It means that he was just rushing to get cheap attention for himself. Keyshawn only used Gervonta’s name to help him get more attention from fans, which is pathetic when you think about it.
Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) recently captured the vacant WBO 135 lb title with a 12-round victory over Emanuel Navarrete on May 18. It would have worked better for Top Rank if Navarrete had won because it would have set up a better internal match between him and Keyshawn. Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn won’t be nearly as big a fight.
It will look a lot better if Keyshawn fights his four-time win, Andy Cruzinstead of the 36-year-old Berinchyk, who is slow and not exactly young. Keyshawn’s excuse for not fighting Cruz is that he’s “Not ready” and “That guy’s not trying to fight me. I’ll knock him out.”
Cruz then responded to those comments by saying he did want the fight. Cruz basically made it clear that Keyshawn pretty much made up that he didn’t want to fight him.
WBO title won’t help Keyshawn
Keyshawn desperately wants to be a champion, but he doesn’t want to go through Andy Cruz to get the belt. He believes getting his title shot will open the door to a massive payday against WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis. Keyshawn can be kidding himself because capturing the WBO belt from Berinchyk won’t make Tank want to fight him.
What will happen is Keyshawn will rot with the title, fighting no name until he can no longer make the 135-lb weight limit. It could be soon as he already looks like a welterweight. He won’t be able to keep draining from the 150s to fight at lightweight for six to ten years and wait for the King of the division, Tank Davis, to fight him.
Bernardo Osuna: “It only starts for you at the elite level. Now you become the WBO mandatory challenger for Denys Berinchyk’s title. What has been the discussion since your big gig with Top Rank, and what’s next for you?
Keyshawn Davis: “I’m not going to leave the location yet, but for sure, Denys Berinchyk is my next opponent. He is an undefeated fighter, a pressure fighter. He is from Ukraine and is friends with Lomachenko and Usyk. He is a great fighter.
“I feel he slept on. It’s crazy. Last year we were supposed to get into a fight with him, but now that he is a world champion, everything is working out for the better. I feel like going into this fight, it’s going to be another exciting fight.
“This is not a boring battle. I know people are going to come out and support us and see what ‘The Businessman’ is going to show that night.”
If the fight Norfolk is like Keyshawn’s last one against Lemos, Berinchyk may have no chance to win. Going to the scorecards, do you think the judges will give it to the visiting fighter? i don’t Berinchyk was nearly robbed in his last fight against Navarrete on May 18 in San Diego, California. Many fans had Berinchyk win 10-2, but one judge scored it for Navarrete. It was insane.
Berinchyk-Navarrete scores
115-113: Berinchik
116-112: Navarrete
116-112: Berinchik
Title fight comes next @KeyshawnDavis8? 👀
(@OsunaESPN | @ESPNRringside) pic.twitter.com/hsJjnaixNl
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) 18 November 2024
