Just before he racked up win number 11, beating Miguel Madueno in Newark, Keyshawn Davis discussed his options with Elliot Worsell.
ASK any professional boxer whether they are ready for a title shot and the answer will always and unequivocally be this: “Yes.” It will always be “yes” regardless of the day on which they are asked, regardless of their age, regardless of their experience, and regardless of whether they even deserve a title shot or not. After all, to win a title is the ultimate goal for many boxers. Not only that, to express the slightest hesitation when asked about challenging for one is to reveal a weakness unwelcome in a sport like ours.
It should come as no surprise therefore that Keyshawn Davis, one of boxing’s standout prospects, feels he is more than ready for a title shot next. That he has only had 10 pro fights to date, and that he only turned pro in 2021, matters not to a man like Davis; someone whose talent is matched only by his self-belief.
In fact, as is often true of the very best talents, there is a danger with Davis that the longer he waits to be challenged, the more chance there is that complacency creeps in and in turn threatens to disrupt what has so far been a perfect sprint to the top. For some fighters, the challenge – the real challenge – is the wait itself. Davis, for instance, although armed with just 10 pro fights, boasts a back catalogue of amateur achievements – including an Olympic silver medal in 2020 and a World Championships silver in 2019 – that not only stand him in good stead as a pro but allow him to entertain the possibility of being fast-tracked.
“I feel like I tick all the boxes,” he told Boxing News ahead of his next fight on July 6 against Miguel Madueno. “I feel like I’m ready right now. But [Miguel] Madueno is a good fighter, a good puncher, and this is going to be a great fight.”
Davis (right) against Miguel Madueno (left) last month (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Rather than sounding frustrated, or indeed impatient, Davis, by reiterating his desire to fight for a world title as soon as possible, is merely following the prospect trend; that is, saying what he feels people think he should, at 10-0, be saying. Whether he truly believes he could land and win a world title in July 2024 is neither here nor there. It is, for Davis, just something to say; something to believe.
“I feel like, with me being 25, I’m not old but I’m older,” he said. “Like I said, I’m ready. This could be the world title fight, you know?
“I could learn until the day I retire, that’s not even a question. I’m always going to learn. I’m a student of the game. But in terms of world title shots, and whether I’m ready for them or not, I’m ready right now. There are no more fights that I need. I’m ready.
“Whatever world title shot comes along, I’ll take it. I’ve never been a world champion before in the professional ranks, so anybody who gives me a shot, I’ll take it.”
Suffice it to say, there will be no world title on the line when Davis fights Madueno in Newark this weekend. Instead, the lightweight pair will box over 10 rounds, and during these 10 rounds Davis will attempt to make a statement, either by stopping Madueno before the final bell or by winning each of the rounds so decisively that his Mexican opponent is left with no option but to applaud him following the announcement of a decision. Either way, Davis considers Madueno the ideal next opponent for him. Better yet, with a world title shot the goal, he believes Madueno (31-2, 28 KOs) could be the perfect preparation for what is to come.
“I feel like [Jose] Pedraza [Davis’ last opponent] tried to ask questions of me, but he just didn’t have any power,” said Davis, 10-0, 7 KOs, with one No Contest. “In terms of Madueno, we’ll just see how much he has. I know I carry some power in my punches. Maybe he’ll keep coming forward after feeling my power, but maybe not.
“I watched the fight between him and Steve Claggett [in November] and he’s a good fighter, man. He’s got a high punch count, for sure. He’s got a good chin and he can take punches. He’s durable. He’s not going to be looking to lay down at all. He’s also young at 26 years old. I really think it’s going to be a great fight; a different experience for me in the professional ring. But he’s definitely something I have seen before and I should manage him pretty easily.”
Should Davis handle Madueno the way he expects, the fighter from Norfolk, Virginia – the birthplace, by the way, of the great Pernell Whitaker – will then be able to take his seat at ringside and watch Shakur Stevenson, his good friend, fight Artem Harutyunyan in defence of his WBC lightweight title. That fight will presumably be of some interest to Davis, too. It will interest him on the one hand because it features a friend of his fighting in front of his home fans in Newark, but also, on the other hand, because the fight features two men who compete in the same division Davis hopes to one day rule.
Shakur Stevenson. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Yet that doesn’t mean Davis is willing to fight Shakur Stevenson, the WBC champion, anytime soon. He has principles, after all. Rules. Certain allegiances. Desperate though he is to reach the top, and fast, the path he takes will be one he himself has mapped out. “We don’t have to do nothing we don’t want to do,” Davis said of a potential fight against Stevenson. “Me and Shakur are family.”
In that case he will likely look elsewhere for his chunk of lightweight gold. Luckily for him, too, there are, at 135 pounds, options aplenty. If not Stevenson, there is always Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or even Vasily Lomachenko. They both currently hold belts – Davis the WBA; Lomachenko the IBF – and they both clearly represent the sort of tests for which Davis, known as “The Businessman”, claims to be ready. “Tank and Lomachenko are the best right now at lightweight,” he said. “They’ve got all the experience, all the fights, and they’ve been doing this for a long time and they’ve been winning. They’ve both been fighting at an elite level for a long time. They will for sure be my two hardest opponents.”
Before reaching either of them, Keyshawn Davis’ toughest opponent is one for which there is neither sparring nor film: patience. All he has to go on, by way of preparation, are cautionary tales told by fighters who paved the way for him and, like him, had their patience tested while waiting for their first world title opportunity. For men like Vasily Lomachenko, a phenom whose amateur credentials eclipse those of even Davis, this wait was relatively short, with the Ukrainian getting his shot at a WBO featherweight belt in only his second fight. Yet for someone like Gervonta Davis, who just won his 30th pro fight against Frank Martin, the chance to box for the IBF super-featherweight title wouldn’t arrive until fight 17, by which stage ‘Tank’ was more than ready for it.
Different minds mature at different rates, you see, as is also true of a boxer’s body. However, it is only with experience that a boxer will come to learn and appreciate this. Until that happens, the single language they understand is that of haste. They must have what they want and they must have it now.
Keyshawn Davis, in that respect, is no different than any other.