Keyshawn Davis claims he is the “best at 135 pounds” ahead of his bout against Miguel Madueno on Saturday night, July 6th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Keyshawn (10-0, 7 KOs), ranked #3 by the IBF, WBC and WBO, feels he has risen to the number one spot in the lightweight division with wins over Jose Pedraza and Nahir Albright. However, many fans viewed the 10-round bout between Keyshawn and Albright as a draw and he still has a long way to go before he reaches the number one spot.
He is aiming for the WBO title against Berinczyk.
Keyshawn, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, has his sights set on WBO lightweight champion Denis Belincik and feels that Belincik is an easy target to ensure a world title shot in 2025. It remains to be seen if Keyshawn will be able to take that bout before growing out of that weight class.
Davis expects to knock out Madueno (31-2, 28 KOs) in a 10-round bout on the undercard of Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan this Saturday. Madueno is a hard puncher who has never been knocked out. However, the 25-year-old Madueno lost a 10-round decision to Steve Clagett last November 14, 2023, by scores of 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91.
This loss took the shine off what Keyshawn could do against Madueno, because he would need to thoroughly beat Madueno to gain any recognition from the boxing aficionados.
Keyshawn predicts knockout against Madueno
“I'm 10-0, I stopped a former world champion and I'm just getting better and better. [35-year-old Jose Pedraza, with a 0-2-1 record in three previous fights]”I'm the best at 135 and I'm here to prove it,” Keyshawn Davis told FightHype, calling himself the No. 1 lightweight in the division.
Keyshawn says he is ranked #1 in the lightweight division, but he isn't serious, as his performance against Nahir Albright showed him to be a fighter with many flaws who has not improved since his loss to Andy Cruz in the 2020 Olympic final.
Davis is ranked in the bottom 10 as a strong lightweight contender behind Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, William Cepeda, Andy Cruz, Raymond Muratala and Floyd Skolfield.
“I believe I can stop anyone. I've been saying that ever since I debuted, so this guy is no exception. He's never been stopped before. If I stop him, that would make the story even more exciting,” Keyshawn said of his opponent Miguel Madueno this Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Keyshawn's size and power advantage
Keyshawn has the size and power to knock out anyone at lightweight, but the same can be said for a lot of other fighters in the division. If you get hit too many times or in the right places by a top contender at 135 pounds, it's going to be a bad outcome. That includes Madueno, Keyshawn's opponent on Saturday. He's also a hard puncher.
“My opponent is [Madueno] “He's a firecracker fighter. He's the kind of guy that when you go against him, he's going to fight back, so I'm going to do a lot of things against him. I think it's going to be a really physical fight this Saturday. The tough guy is going to win this fight,” Keyhorn said of his 10-round bout against recently defeated Miguel Madueno this Saturday night on ESPN.
“If Top Rank puts me in a title fight, I think it will be next year. It will be the pinnacle of next year. Right now I'm aiming for the WBO.” [against Denys Berinchyk]and now I think it's mine. Defence, for sure. I don't think a championship will come to my hometown. [Norfolk, Virginia]”…That doesn't make sense. It's definitely a defense.”
It remains to be seen if Keyshawn will have a shot at the title against Belinchik next year. If so, he should consider moving up to 140 pounds, as staying at 135 and fighting unknowns is not a good idea. Even a fight against Belinchik would not do Keyshawn any favors for his career and he may lose. Belinchik has better skills than Keyshawn, but he lacks the youth, power, and massive size of a 140+ pounder.
Keyshawn looks like a welterweight when he's rehydrating for a lightweight bout and is clearly trying to gain popularity by fighting below his size. Without the 10 pound rehydration limit, Keyshawn could continue to fight at lightweight, but again, it may not be worth it.
Gervonta Davis won't fight him, Keyshawn has already turned down a fight with his friend, WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, and Belincik is not popular enough to merit a fight for his WBO belt.
“Let's see how hard he tries. [Madueno] “He has a lot of punching power. We'll see how it goes. I don't think he punches that hard. He just looks strong. He throws punches every time. Obviously you're going to see some power. I don't think he's a power puncher, but we'll see,” Keyshawn said.
