Keyshawn Davis says he’s going to stay at lightweight until Gervonta Davis agrees to fight him. The Virginia native Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) thinks Tank Davis is hoping he’ll move up to 140 so he can say he’s too big and doesn’t have to fight him.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Keyshawn says he won’t do that, and he will stay as long as necessary to get the clash against Tank. One problem that could prevent Keyshawn from staying at 135 is his size. He’s a weight bully for the lightweight division and arguably should be competing at welterweight or junior middleweight.
The 25-year-old Keyshawn is massive for the lightweight division and looks like a 147-pounder after rehydrating. Due to his youth, he can drain down to fight at 135, but that’s not something he can do indefinitely. When you’ve got fighters in their mid-20s, they’re on borrowed time.
Keyshawn when he does negotiate a fight with Tank Davis, he won’t be able to use his weight “shenanigans” that he’s done with other fighters. That’s a deal-killer right there because Tank is the face of boxing and the A-side.
Top Rank will have to muzzle Keyshawn and let them negotiate because he’s going to ruin every potential big fight he can get if he speaks in absolutes of what he won’t be willing to put up with. If Keyshawn wants these big fights against superstars like Tank, he will have to grovel and do whatever is asked of him.
Tank would always have the upper hand in negotiations with Keyshawn, no matter how long he chooses to stay at 135 to try and wait him out.
“The potential money that can be made. I’m going to fight [Tank] with the same energy that he’s coming with. He can’t do all that shenanigans that he be doing with other people, he can’t be doing with me,” said Keyshawn Davis to Cigar Talk about Gervonta Davis not being able to use weight stipulations in a contract like he’s done with other fighters.
Tank Davis can make more money fighting other fighters at 135 and 140 than he can against Keyshawn, who isn’t well-known by casual boxing fans. His fans in Norfolk aren’t going to bring in the buys the way someone like Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney would.
“Yes, I’m ready for that. He can’t f*** with me. Him and his coach know that, bro,” said Keyshawn about Tank Davis. “The bald-headed dude [Coach Kenny Ellis]. He said, ‘Just don’t call Tank out for the rest of the year. They’re worried. They want me to move to 140 to get out of 135. ‘Oh, I’m too big. I don’t got to fight him anymore.’”
Keyshawn is already big for the lightweight division. That’s why he’s having success against the limited opposition that his promoters are matching him against. If Keyshawn had to move up to 147 or 154 and enter the general population of killers in those divisions, he wouldn’t last long before one of them got to him. Keyshawn would be in trouble against Jaron Ennis at 147 and Bakhram Murtazaliev at 154.
“No, I’m staying at 135, and I’m going to be there until you’re ready to fight me,” said Keyshawn about Gervont Davis.
Keyshawn can try and stay at 135, but that doesn’t mean he’s ever going to get a fight against Tank. Look at Lomachenko. He’s been at lightweight since 2018, and it’s only now that he’s 36 that Tank has shown interest in fighting him. Keyshawn can’t stay at 135 for the next six years like Lomachenko has without growing out of the division, which he he’s on the verge of doing right now.
“I don’t think he wants to fight a young and up-and-coming star,” said Keyshawn about Vasily Lomachenko. “He wants to fight a solidified star. A person that already had their way in boxing. I’m still up and coming. So, I don’t think in his last fight that he wants to fight a young and up and coming person.”
It’s way too early for Keyshawn to be viewed as an “up-and-coming star” because he’s looked poor in two out of his last three fights against Miguel Madueno and Nahir Albright. That’s why Top Rank turned around and matched Keyshawn against the 35-year-old Jose Pedraza and then offered him 38-year-old Nicholas Walters. Keyshawn is too obtuse to see things as they really are.
“He wants to fight a superstar. Yeah, we [Top Rank] talked about it, but I don’t think he [Lomachenko] wants to go this route,” said Keyshawn.
Lomachenko would never waste time with a non-name like Keyshawn, who brings nothing to the table other than 20+ lbs, never won a world title, and came in second place in the 2020 Olympics. He lost to Andy Cruz. In contrast, Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a former three-division world champion. Keyshawn will never accomplish those things, and he’s already about to turn 26 with no world titles in sight.
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