The cameras caught Keyshawn’s reaction the moment the cards were read. He raised his hands in victory, as if it were a proxy for himself. He lost four times to Cuban talent Andy Cruz in amateur competition, including the 2020 Olympic finals.
Seeing Cruz look human in a professional setting may have provided a psychological release Davis has been waiting for for years. With a low 0-4 record against Cruz, Keyshawn took any win he could get, even one he didn’t deserve. His reaction gives a glimpse of where he is. To me, that would not be a victory.
Although Muratalla’s win doesn’t really answer the questions that have followed Davis since Tokyo. That doesn’t prove that Davis is the better pro. Nor does it erase the four losses he suffered in their amateur bouts. If anything, it shows that Keyshawn is even below Muratalla.
Although the fight was close enough that it could have gone Cruz’s way, the judges gave it to Muratalla by scores of 114-114, 118-110 and 116-112. I had it for Cruz, but I took into account the jabs he landed.
The judges may have focused more on aggression, driving the fight more. It was Muratalla (29), but it wasn’t effective aggression. He came forward, ate jabs, didn’t land much.
Watching Muratalla raise his hand gave Davis something he could never earn in the ring himself. It did not decide the score.
Davis is currently preparing for his own return on January 31st at Madison Square Garden. He moves up to light welterweight to fight Jamaine Ortiz on the Ring 6 card on DAZN. Keyshawn recently said that if Andy Cruz beat Muratalla to win the IBF lightweight title, he could face him.
Now, that weight has been lifted from his shoulders with Cruz’s defeat. For them to fight now, Andy would have to move up to 140, and defeat one of the top contenders to rebuild. That’s unlikely to happen because he’s small, even by the lightweight division’s standards.
go to 140 to fight bigger, stronger fighters will require Cruz to bulk up. It’s possible if he was ambitious, but at 30 it’s not realistic. I don’t see that happening. Cruz is exactly where he needs to be at lightweight. The way he fought last Saturday, I’d pick him to beat the big three in the division: Shakur Stevenson, Abdullah Mason and Floyd Schofield.
