Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) claims that WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis has “no choice but to fight him” now after his second-round knockout win over light welterweight Gustavo Lemos (29-2, 19 KOs) on Friday night in a Top Rank-promoted show on ESPN+ at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
Keyshawn, not known for being a big puncher, caught the wild-looking Argentinian Lemos with a perfect right counter in round two that put him down on the seat of his pants.
Gustavo Was Perfect For Keyshawn
– No hand speed
– Slow moving
– Crude skills
– Throwing wild haymakers
Lemos, 28, was easy prey after that knockdown and was dropped twice more by Keyshawn before referee Raul Caiz Jr waved off the contest at 1:59 of round two. The punches that Keyshawn landed weren’t huge, but it was a case of Lemos not having recovered from the first knockdown.
The victory for #3 WBC and #3 WBO-ranked Keyshawn makes him the WBO mandatory to champion Denys Berinchyk, who will likely be next for him. Top Rank is not likely to going to be able to negotiate a fight against Tank Davis anytime soon if ever.
I’d be surprised if Keyshawn ever gets a fight against unless he becomes a star, and he might not be able to make the jump before being forced to move up due to his size. He didn’t look much smaller than the 155-lb Lemos inside the ring, which suggests he’s not long for the division.
Knockout Came As a Surprise
“I didn’t think I was going to stop Lemos. I thought he was going to be very tough, durable, and we were going to be in there fighting kind of like my last fight was and having a spectacular performance,” said Keyshawn Davis to the media after his win over Gustavo Lemos on Saturday night in Norfolk, Virginia.
It wasn’t a big shock that Keyshawn knocked out Lemos because, with the way he was throwing wild punches, leaving himself open each time, it was only a matter of time.
In the first 30 seconds, I could see why Keyshawn picked Lemos as his opponent rather than Andy Cruz or Raymond Muratalla. Lemos was no threat to beating him and was the ideal opponent for him to look spectacular. He was well-vetted before being selected by Keyshawn.
“I knocked him out in the second round; I knew when I dropped him the first time that it was over. I already knew it was over, and I just closed the show,” Keyshawn continued. ”
‘The Business Man’ Believes He Can Hurt Tank
“The only person that doesn’t like it is him,” said Keyshawn about Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis not liking to be called out by him. “He’s kind of weird, but now he has no choice but to fight me. The fans want him to fight me after what I did tonight against a guy that is bigger than him.”
Tank doesn’t react well to being pressured for fights by needy contenders, and Keyshawn is failing to learn from the many other fighters who have used the same approach to try and get a chance to face him.
The only one who had luck in calling out Tank was Ryan Garcia, but that was because he had 12 million Instagram followers and a Hollywood movie star aura about him. Keyshawn doesn’t have any of that. He’s just a guy that is popular in Norfolk, Virginia and is known for his interviews where he brags about himself. That sums up Keyshawn.
What Keyshawn needs is to keep knocking out his opponents, look good, and be more willing to stand and fight instead of moving like we saw tonight.
Negative’s in Tonight’s Keyshawn performance
- Too Much clinching
- Moving a lot: Not standing and fighting
- Using illegal stiff-arms
- Not exchanging in the pocket
“If I touch him, guess what’s going to happen? Talk about that. Everyone wants to talk about, ‘Keyshawn, what if he touch you?’ What if I touch him? Yeah, okay,” said Keyshawn.