Keyshawn Davis believes he’ll beat Gervonta Davis based on his superior size and technical ability. The undefeated #3 IBF, #3 WBC, and #3 WBO ranked lightweight contender Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) says it would be “target practice” for him to fight the much shorter 5’5″ Gervonta (30-0, 28 KOs)
The 5’10’ Keyshawn says his defense, height, and reach will negate the offense of WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Tank, who is a slow starter. Keyshawn sees the fight between them as similar to the 1964 clash between a young Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston, with him using his speed to dominate the slower, more powerful intimidator Tank.
Top Rank has yet to make any moves to put a fight together between Keyshawn and Gervonta. The guys they’ve shown interest in matching Keyshawn against are WBO 130-lb champion Denys Berinchyk and IBF champ Vasily Lomachenko.
The 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn is fighting Gustavo Lemos on November 8th in the main event on ESPN in Norfolk, Virginia. It’s unknown if Davis’s plans are for him to move up to 140 soon, but that would be a good idea because he will have more opportunities in that weight class. At 135, Keyshawn could be frozen out.
“Me and Tank fight. I feel like that’s cautious. We all know what Tank got. He’s got that one shot to knock you out. So, that’s the only thing I’m looking out for,” said Keyshawn Davis to Top Rank Boxing about a fight between him and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
“I feel like with me, you got to look out for a lot of [stuff]. My stabs are crazy. You see, I got that shot and the left hook or the right. You see my speed is crazy. My defense is crazy. I’m not saying that he don’t got none of that [stuff]. I just feel like I’ve got more weapons than he’s got,” Keyshawn continued about his superiority to Tank Davis.
Keyshawn had a lot of trouble in his last against Miguel Madeuno last July, dealing with the pressure that was being put on him by the Mexican fighter, and he was bending the rules by fouling. It looked like Keyshawn was having flashbacks to his fight against Cuba’s Andy Cruz in the finals of the 2020 Olympics.
“That’s why he always comes out slow all the time. The only time he came out fast was against Leo Santa Cruz. So, why did he lose the first five rounds?” said Keyshawn, reacting to being told by Bruce Carrington that Gervonta had started fast in his recent fight against Frank Martin.
“To me, that’s not coming out fast. [Jose] Pedraza came out fast. The last dude [Miguel Madueno] came put fast punching. I got to be sharp with both of those guys. So, if I got a short guy at 5’5″, I’m 5’10”. I’ve got longer arms than him. If I’ve got a guy that is walking to me with his hands up, it’s target practice for me, and you’re not just going to catch me. I’ve got good defense.
“I just feel like with me and Tank, there’s going to be a lot that he’s worried about with me. He’s not going to say that. I know boxing, and I also know myself. I feel like I’ll beat Tank, too, as well. I feel like it’ll be a Sugar Ray vs. Roberto Duran or Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston. That style matchup. You’ve got a boxer against a short, strong puncher. That style matchup.
“I’m really comparing it [Keyshawn’s dream fight against Tank] to Muhammad Ali against Sonny Liston because Sonny Liston was the street dude, the intimidation, knocking everybody out. Nobody wanted to fight him,” said Keyshawn.
Sonny Liston was nothing like how Tank Davis fights now. Liston was in his mid-30s when he fought Clay, and he was slow but powerful. Keyshawn doesn’t move like a young Clay, and he’s not as calm as he was when being pressured by his opponents. In Keyshawn’s fights against Miguel Madueno and Nahir Albright, he looked nervous when being forced into exchanges.
“He was on top, and you got this Muhammad Ali kid that don’t care about none of what y’all talking about. He knows how great he is. So, that’s how I feel about that [a fight between Keyshawn and Tank being similar to how a clash between young Ali, who was still going by his first name Cassius Clay, in February 1964],” said Keyshawn.