Keyshawn Davis is set to fight this weekend on October 14th and will feature in the co-main event prior to the main event between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Vincenzo Gualtieri. While Alimkhanuly, the Kazakhstani WBA middleweight champion, and Gualtieri, the German IBF middleweight champion, will participate in a unification title bout, Davis will stay busy against 135 lbs contender Nahir Albright, at the Fort Bend Community Center in Texas.
Janibek Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KO’s) and Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KO’s) will participate in a unification middleweight bout that has not occurred since Gennady Golovkin (41-2-1, 37 KO’s) faced Ryoto Murata (16-3, 13 KO’s) in April of 2022. Though their match is significant as the winner will have half of the available world titles in the division, the majority of oddsmakers seem to believe the match will be heavily one-sided in favor of Alimkhanuly.
Supporting this card as the co-main event will be American lightweights Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KO’s) and Nahir Albright (16-2, 7 KO’s). Like Davis’ previous opponent―Francesco Patera (28-4, 10 KO’s)―Albright is a fringe contender on the verge of landing a shot of becoming a legitimate world title contender at 135 lbs, yet not good enough to be considered one of the more recognized fighters in the division such as Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KO’s), William Zepeda (29-0, 25 KO’s) and Isaac Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KO’s), and has never been in any such conversation. This is even more noticeable, as the division is considered one of the most talented in the current era, thus making it easier for a lightweight to make a name as opposed to other―less prevalent―divisions.
A victory over the highly-rated Davis―known for his lightning-fast footwork and powerful & accurate punches―who has quickly become a potential world title challenger in the span of just two years following his pro debut in February of 2021 may see the 27-year old Nahir Albright become considered a legitimate contender himself. Keyshawn Davis is currently considered one of the best American prospects overall, and a life-changing opportunity has now presented itself for Albright if he manages to come out victorious.
24-year old Keyshawn Davis himself might not curry the same sort of favor by defeating Nahir Albright, as like Alimkhanuly he too is considered the wide favorite to win given his perceived ability and performances before even reaching a double-digit number of fights.
Nonetheless, the dynamic between one hotshot prospect and a contender desperate to become a legitimate challenger makes for an interesting fight, at the very least.
The boxing event headlined by Alimkhanuly and Gualtieri will be promoted by Top Rank, and broadcasted by ESPN and all its subsidiary channels or networks, with the Fort Bend Community in Texas being the chosen venue to entertain the public with a veraciously low-stakes, low-reward fight card.
