Shakur Stevenson reiterated this week that he will never fight his good friend, Keyshawn Davis, no matter what money is offered to him. The WBC lightweight champion says he and Keyshawn used to go to gyms when they were younger and beat different fighters. They got close.
Stevenson says he and Keyshawn will “take over the sport of boxing.” So far, neither of these two fighters has shown the ability to be a top draw in the sport. Shakur has an aged, dull Mayweather on his last legs style, and Keyshawn has a similar style.
Weight Bully?
The difference with Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) is that he is big for the lightweight division and should probably be fighting at 147 rather than 135. He looks massive for a lightweight. If Keyshawn had to fight where he belongs at welterweight against killers like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennishis career would be worth nothing.
Keyshawn’s promoters at Top Rank would probably never agree to allow him to fight Boots because his chances of success would be non-existent, and their investment in his career would have been wasted.
Fighting smaller, older guys in lightweight divisions, Keyshawn has a chance while he’s young to become a champion, but not a star. If he moves up to where he should be fighting at welterweight, he is food for fighters in this division.
“As we were coming up, Keyshawn and I would go to every gym, and we would whip a **. We used to go to gyms and beat (fighters) on a regular s***,” Shakur Stevenson told Cigar Talk’s YouTube channel about why he will never fight Keyshawn Davis.
“Any gym. Like high level. When I went to sparring Lomachenko, Keyshawn was over there beating another Olympic gold medalist. Keyshawn was always with me. Once you get to that level, we knew this day was going to come.
“It was only a matter of time. We knew both of us (fighters) were going to whip a ** and take over the sport of boxing. Now the fans are going to demand and want to see us fight,” Shakur says of fans who have started pushing to see him and Keyshawn fight in a division that doesn’t have name fighters at the top.
Undefeated, untested
Keyshawn failed in the 2020 Olympics, losing to Cuba’s Andy Cruz. It was not a close fight. As pros, Keyshawn and Shakur have yet to beat any high-level fighters. Shakur has defeated several washed-up older and smaller fighters, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring, but he has yet to face anyone at the highest level. That’s why he was chosen to defend against Floyd Schofield. Shakur is desperate.
He’s already called out Vasily Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis, but he hasn’t even gotten a bite from either of those fighters. One explanation for that is Stevenson’s boring style. He is constantly booed by fans every time he fights, and he has no fanbase outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
Keyshawn has never fought anyone with talent and has shown no interest in avenging his four losses to Andy Cruz. He seems interested in taking the easy way out, challenging WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk next month on February 14th. Davis says he believes a fight with WBA champion Gervonta Davis will happen once he wins the WBO title. It sounds like a pipe dream.
“It’s not about the money,” Shakur said when told that Turki Al-Sheikh would probably offer him and Keyshawn a lot of money for the two of them to fight. “It’s not about the money. I’m not one of those (fighters) who make money for me, brother.”
It’s too bad Shakur doesn’t want to fight his friend, Keyshawn, because that might be his best bet for a big clash against lightweight. Unless Turki Tank offers Davis mega-millions, that fight isn’t going to happen for Stevenson. IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko probably won’t fight Shakur either, as he’s nearing 37, and he doesn’t want to fight a runner at this late stage of his career. If he was younger, Loma would take that fight in a second. Now, however, that doesn’t seem likely.
Once you remove Tank and Lomachenko from the equation, Keyshawn is the only one left for Shakur. There’s William Zepeda, but he’s not going to give Shakur the kind of payday that a fight against Loma and Gervonta would.
Keyshawn’s career best win
– Gustavo Lemos: *’5’4″ drained 140-lb fighter
– Nahir Albright: *slim win for Keyshawn. Wounded in battle
– Miguel Madueno: *Fight looked more like a WWE fight
– Jose Pedraza: *35 years old, much smaller and past his prime
