Keyshawn Davis targets Devin Haney, Lewis Crocker, Dalton Smith

Keyshawn Davis closed out Jamaine Ortiz with a 12th-round stoppage and used the microphone afterward to spell out who he wants next.

Davis had been inactive for close to a year since taking the WBO lightweight title from Denys Berinchyk, returned heavier, and finished an opponent who had never been stopped.

What Davis said, and why he said it

“It’s been a long time coming from my last fight to tonight,” Davis said. “There was a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs and nights where I just really didn’t want to do this anymore.”

He explained the brutal the ending as something he had chased for years. “I always dreamed to get a knockout in the 12th round,” he said. “So to do it with an opponent like Jamaine Ortiz, on my return, in front of 20,000 fans, that’s God.”

Then he made the argument he clearly wants remembered. “My last three opponents never been stopped before, never been dropped before, Lemos, Berinchyk and now Ortiz, and I moved up in weight and stopped them. I’m for real. Put anyone in front of me, I’m gonna stop them.”

This was not reflection. It was positioning.

Haney, Crocker, Smith, and the real targets

Davis did not hesitate when Devin Haney’s name came up after a week of back and forth. Asked what happens if they fight, he answered, “Knockout.”

That answer plays well. It also skips the size gap and the fact Haney is no longer operating as a lightweight. Making that fight work would require money and agreement, not rankings.

Davis also looked to Britain. He said he had been talking with Eddie Hearn and named IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker and WBC junior welterweight champion Dalton Smith as options.

“He’s got that strap that I want,” Davis said, referring to Crocker.

That sentence explains the direction. Belts still move doors. UK headliners pay well. Both Crocker and Smith bring physical size Davis has not yet faced as a full-time reality.

What comes next, without fantasy

Davis still holds WBO standing at lightweight, but boxing Ortiz heavier complicates his path back into mandatory order. Sanctioning bodies allow flexibility when fees stay active, not when divisions stall.

A Haney fight would be built on profile and money. A Smith or Crocker fight would likely place Davis in against men who live at those weights, without the advantage of being the bigger fighter.

The late power is real. The confidence is loud. The risk rises sharply once the opponent no longer gives rounds away early. Against established 140 or 147 fighters, Davis will have to earn those final-round moments the hard way, without relying on talk to soften the ground first.