By Allan Fox: Keyshawn Davis wants former two-division world champion Jose ‘Sniper’ Pedraza next on December 9th after his lackluster performance in his ten round majority decision win over Nahir Albright. last Saturday night at the Ford Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas.

After the fight, the 2020 Olympian Keyshawn called out the 34-year-old Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs), who hasn’t won since 2021, and his record is 0-2-1 in his last three fights.

Pedraza doesn’t even fight at 135 and hasn’t fought in that weight class since 2019. He campaigns at 140 now. If Keyshawn wants to fight someone on December 9th, shouldn’t he focus on facing someone from the 135-lb division?

Jose Pedraza’s last three fights:

Arnold Barboza Jr – UD 10 Loss
Richard Commey – Draw 10
Jose Ramirez – UD 12 loss

Is it asking too much for Keyshawn to fight guys from his own weight class rather than cherry-picking old guys who haven’t won a fight in years and expecting them to boil down to 135 so he can look good?

Boxing fans were expecting a little more from Keyshawn than this, as they had hoped that he would show some ambition by agreeing to fight Frank ‘The Ghost’ Martin.

Davis probably realizes that he’s not up to the task of fighting Martin, as that guy can punch and would do damage if he connected with anything. If Keyhawn was getting hurt by Alrnight, you got to imagine what Martin would do to him.

The 24-year-old Keyshawn was lucky to get the win because he appeared to lose five rounds and was hurt in the eighth round after getting clipped by a right hand from Albright.

Keyshawn had been compared to Miguel Cotto & Floyd Mayweather Jr. going into last Saturday night’s flight, but he fought nothing like either of them. This writer doesn’t see anything from ANY of Keyshawn’s performances at the pro or amateur level that is similar to how Floyd & Cotto used to fight.

The scores for the Keyshawn-Albright fight were 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93. This writer scored it 95-95. With all the running that Keyshawn did in the ninth & tenth rounds, you can argue that Albright deserved the win.

Keyshawn gives himself a C+ grade

“I give me a C+. I just do whatever I want in the ring. Whatever comes out, it comes out,” said Keyshawn to the media after his fight with Albright. “I expect anything from my opponents, anything. From the first round to the last round, I’m just ready to fight.

“Stay more consistent,” said Davis when asked what he could have done better to earn an A grade. “Punch him a little more. I felt real strong, and I came out real strong in round nine,” said Keyshawn about his thoughts on getting nailed by a big shot from Albright at the end of the eighth.

I wonder if it’s too late for Top Rank to terminate Keyshawn’s contract with them because this guy isn’t going anywhere. He’s like a bargain basement Shakur Stevenson but far more boring.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum used to complain about how dull Guillermo Rigondeaux’s performances were when he was with his company, but he was more entertaining to watch than Keyshawn & Shakur.

Rigondeaux would sit down on his left hand shots, and he had a lethal right hook that he would use. Keyshawn has none of that and is just looking to spoil. The two-time Olympic gold medalist Rigondeaux was worlds better than Keyshawn and far more entertaining.

If Arum is going to turn Keyshawn into a PPV star, he’s going to have to match him with care so he can keep the fans in the dark about how limited he is because if he throws him in with someone good like Martin or Gervonta Davis, it’s going to be a feeding frenzy.

“The judges are going to judge how they saw the fight, so that’s on them. Nah, my promoter gave me a heads up about the scorecards,” said Davis when he was surprised by one of the scorecards being 95-95.

“Next year,” said Keyshawn on when he expects to fight for a world title at lightweight. “He [Albright] don’t got no power. No, but the next one probably will,” said Davis on whether this was the toughest fight for his career.

Albright showed that he had enough power to stun Keyshawn at the eighth round, and had him holding on for fear life as the bell sounded. Why was Keyshawn hurt and desperately holding on if Albright had no power? It’s disappointing how Keyshawn didn’t have enough class to give Albright credit after he hurt him and fought him to a standstill.

“I just want to be out here, be the best and put on great performances, give great fights for my fans,” said Keyshawn. “I don’t have one person in mind that I want to fight. Who the fans want me to fight, I’m willing to fight.

“I am getting back in there at the end of the year. He saw it tonight. I bet he’s running right now,” said Keyshawn when asked if he has a message for Pedraza.

Davis wants Jose Pedraza next

“I wouldn’t say that, but this fight today gave me some experience,” said Keyshawn Davis last Saturday night to ESPN after his win over Albright. “I just want to show that I belong here in the 135-lb division at the top like the rest of the guys.”

If Keyshawn wants to show he belongs at the top of the 135-lb division, he won’t prove that fighting the washed Pedraza with his recent 0-2-1 record. The way for Keyshawn to prove that he belongs in the lightweight division is to fight these guys:

Frank Martin
William Zepeda
Vasily Lomachenko
Raymond Muratalla
Edwin De Los Santos
Shakur Stevenson
Gervonta Davis

“I’m working my way up there. If Pedraza is willing to take this fight with me, let’s do it on December 9th. I was just doing what I wanted to do and having fun.

“Keyshawn Davis, I tell you, something was wrong. He wasn’t letting his
hands go at the end but look at the beginning of the fight. This was all
about counter-punching, taking his time, setting up,” said ESPN commentator Tim Bradley to Top Rank Boxing, being a good trooper by not ripping Keyshawn Davis a new one after his poor Mayweather-esque, sleep-inducing performance against Nahir Albright last Saturday night.

Bradley must open his eyes and see what was obvious to everyone about Keyshawn. He wasn’t letting his hands go because he was afraid of getting clipped by Albright, and he got really scared as the fight progressed into the later rounds.

“This was a quintessential Keyshawn Davis. This is the way he operates and the way he fights when he wants to fight people, but he’s so dang good at it,” said Bradley.

“He has superb fundamentals, technique, excellent footwork, great back foot counters, and front foot counters, as you saw with the right hand right there. He showed good chopping right hands and left hooks; he’s the total package.”

Tim Bradley sounds more like a used car salesman than he does a broadcaster because he’s trying to pawn off a lemon to the naive fans, who were bored to tears watching Keyshawn’s safety-first performance last Saturday night.

“Good footwork, great defense, moving forward. I can’t wait until he fights [34-year-old Jose] Pedraza. He simply won this fight; this was easy. Hands down, he won this fight, no doubt,” said Bradley.