Lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis (10-0, 7 KOs) used his huge size, youth, and power advantage to stop an over-matched Jose Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KOs) in the sixth round of a one-sided fight on Thursday night in their co-feature-fight-on-ESPN-at-the-Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
One-sided Affair
The referee stopped the spectacle at 1:09 after Keyshawn unloaded with a firestorm of punches in the sixth round against the hapless veteran Pedraza, who looked like he didn’t belong in the ring.
34-year-old Pedraza came into the contest with a 0-2-1 record in his last three fights and was picked out by Top Rank to make Keyshawn look good after his poor performances in his previous two contests.
Keyshawn looked decent but not great, bludgeoning the bloody & battered Pedraza with punches in the sixth round to force a stoppage.
Pedraza’s punches looked slow and weak throughout like he was fighting in a weight class far below the 135-lb division. He was no match for the hulking Keyshawn, who looked like a rehydrated welterweight.
Future Challenges Remain in Doubt
Keyshawn was enormous tonight in size but not powerful compared to the talented Abdullah Mason on the undercard. It’s unclear how Keyshawn can make 135 because he looked like at least 160 tonight.
After the fight, Keyshawn called out Teofimo Lopez and Emanuel Navarrete, saying he wanted them next. The chances of either of those fights happening next are zero, and likely, those matches will never happen.
If Top Rank wants to find out if Keyshawn is worth continuing to pour money into, they need to match him against one of these fighters next:
- Abdullah Mason
- Andy Cruz
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Subriel Matias
- Raymond Muratalla
- Frank Martin
Was this a Real Step Up?
Although this was advertised as a step-up opponent for Keyshawn, that’s absolutely not true. Top Rank gave the 2020 Olympian Davis a soft opponent after he came close to losing his last fight against Nahir Albright last November.
Pedraza was chosen for one reason. To make Keyshawn look good, better than he actually is to create fake hype. If they wanted to give Keyshawn a step up, they would have matched him against his old nemesis, Cuban Andy Cruz, who beat him easily four times in the amateurs.
Top Rank wasn’t going to do that because Cruz has got Keyshawn’s number and would ruin the money they’re pouring into his career.
