American Lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis seems to believe that he is ready for the top fighters in his weight class, the Lightweight division, and is even contemplating moving down to 130 pounds to prove his status as an elite fighter. With there being a scramble for the belts at 135 lbs at the moment ― with numerous contenders vying for a crack at the winner of Devin Haney versus Vasyl Lomachenko as it offers the opportunity to become undisputed, Keyshawn Davis has expressed his desire to move down a weight class where there is a better chance for him to become a world champion.
The Super Featherweight division currently sports four different world champions following Shakur Stevenson’s (20-0, 10 KO’s) failure to reach weight against Robson Conceição (17-2, 8 KO’s) which forced him to relinquish all his titles and move up to 135 pounds. In the subsequent months after Shakur’s departure, the division has quickly made way for three new champions and therefore presents Keyshawn Davis (8-0, 6 KO’s) with four different paths or opportunities to take.
Following Keyshawn Davis’ professional debut in 2021 as a Lightweight, the American prospect has quickly gone on to become a contender within the division following a noticeable step-up in competition in 2022 and 2023 with his latest victory being successfully ruled a stoppage win over a former world title challenger in Anthony Yigit (26-3-1, 10 KO’s).
Though Davis has just 8 fights under his belt, the Lightweight is already angling for the position of world champion as he himself confirmed in a recent interview with sports presenter Brian Custer.
“I’m a person that really believes in himself, you know, so I want to get other people’s opinions too, like am I tripping or do other people believe the same as I do?” Keyshawn Davis responded after being asked on whether he truly believed he was ready to face the top fighters at the current stage of his career.
“He (Shakur Stevenson) was like, ‘Bro, what you believe in, keep believing in it, cause I believe in it too. I feel like you’re ready for them top guys.” Keyshawn Davis continued to explain in reference to a phone conversation he had prior to his interview with Custer.
“I said, “Do you think I’m ready for them top guys? Like those real top guys? Because I feel am’. He said, ‘Bro, I feel like you can fight anybody you want to fight. Anybody’, so I’m like, ‘Damn , okay’. So I do. My belief, it is real. I can fight these guys.“
When asked on whether he would entertain fighting at 130 pounds, given how busy the Lightweight division is, Keyshawn Davis answered affirmatively.
“I’m gonna see what I can do, you know. What I’m saying is if I can go to 130 then, you’re gonna see me at 130. if I can’t, I’m gonna just stick to what I’ve been doing.” Davis said.
The American prospect is also angling for as high as he can aim, and even teased a potential match-up with a top 5 Lightweight.
“Right now, we’re looking at somebody like in the top five. I don’t want to throw a name out there yet, because this person didn’t accept an offer and I didn’t hear nothing back yet. We were looking into this person, but the only hint I will throw out there is that he’s in the top five of the WBO.” Keyshawn Davis affirmed.
With Keyshawn Davis likely not fighting either Shakur Stevenson, the #2 contender in the WBO who is also his stablemate at Top Rank and a close friend, or Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO’s) who is set to fight Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KO’s) in two weeks, the only other three options that remain available for Davis to fight and who are currently in the top 5 of the WBO rankings are Denys Berinchyk (17-0, 9 KO’s), Angel Fierro (21-1-2, 17 KO’s) and Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KO’s).
Keyshawn Davis continued expressing his relationship with Shakur Stevenson who he has known “most of his life and his boxing career”, according to his own words. Along with Heavyweight prospect, Jared Anderson (14-0, 14 KO’s), the three young American fighters have become a close trio who seem to be determined to reach as high as they can aim.
Though all three of the fighters are trained by different trainers, the trio seems to have bonded due to being signed to the same promotion, Top Rank, and their relationship mirrors the bond that Shakur Stevenson shared with another former Top Rank fighter, Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KO’s), who was known to have mentored Stevenson throughout his professional career. In the same vein, Stevenson seems to have taken on the same role as Crawford by mentoring and guiding the other two prospects as much as possible.
Aside from his relationship with two other young boxing talents, Keyshawn Davis further enjoys the guidance of renowned trainer Brian McIntyre ― who is also responsible for training former Super Lightweight undisputed champion and current WBO Welterweight champion Terence Crawford. In his interview with Brian Custer, Keyshawn Davis expressed his gratitude at having met the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Crawford throughout his boxing career.
“Me meeting Terence Crawford was really like another sign that God just keeps blessing me because i had somebody (Shakur Stevenson) to carry me through the amateurs. Now that I’m a top prospect professionally, I got somebody else that’s already a world champion.” Davis said.
“It’s like on every level I get to meet somebody that I can really take in, and that’s already like two or three steps ahead of me, and that’s why everytime after my fights I always say ‘I’m just living it out’. God is just really putting me in positions that he wants me to be, and I’m just living it out.” The 24-year old American remarked.
