Keyshawn Davis says a fight against 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz is a “priority,” but he “not ready” to fight him. Davis (11-0, 7 KOs), who has been beaten four times by Cruz, says a fight against Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) has to happen “at the right time.”
Some feel that Keyshawn never wants to fight Cruz again after his bad experiences, losing repeatedly in the lovers. Cruz’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says he wants to make this fight, and is confident that his fighter will fight again.
Keyshawn can’t afford another loss to Cruz, so it’s understandable why he shows no interest in fighting again. Cruz has dominated in his fights in the amateur ranks. The 25-year-old Keyhawn has had trouble beating the Top Rank fighters he faces.
It is reasonable to conclude that Keyshawn will NEVER fight Cruz because Top Rank knows the final outcome of that fight. Also, Cruz is a major talent being fast from Eddie Hearn to a world title. Cruz is likely to be a world champion by 2025. He has superstar written all over him and is on a different plane than Keyshawn.
Keyshawn, unfortunately, doesn’t look like he’s going to make it to the pro level, at least at 135. If he can make it to 140 or 147, he might be able to capture a belt in those slim divisions, which are barren of talent.
They tried to develop Davis, but he’s fighting against guys who shouldn’t be if he was the real deal. Keyshawn’s fight against Nahir Albright and Miguel Madueno he showed that the Top Rank has to be very careful with him to prevent him from losing.
That’s obviously not what they were counting on when they signed Keyshawn out of the Olympics. They had expected it to hit the ground running without extended development.
Next month, Keyshawn will fight Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) in a 10-round fight at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, on November 8. The event will be shown on ESPN +.
Keyshawn says he handpicked Lemos after Top Rank offered him 38 years Nicholas Walters as an opponent for the date of November 8. He felt he would not get credit for beating Walters because of his age. Keyshawn didn’t understand why Walters had been proposed. He had looked so poor in his fight against Madueno that it was understandable why Top Rank offered Walters.
It was the same thing after Keyshawn worked against Nahir Albright, going down in that fight and barely winning. In Keyshawn’s next fight, Top Rank is going up against the faded 35-year-old Jose Pedraza rather than continue to move forward with a better opponent, which is what they would have done if he had looked good against Albright.
“It’s definitely a priority. It just happened at the right time,” Keyshawn Davis told Brian Campbell channelWhen he was asked about his interest in fighting the 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who repeatedly beat him in the amateur ranks, withstanding victory after victory.
“I don’t think it’s ready. We have reached the last as we reached Gustavo (Lemos). We have already reached Andy Cruz and them. They said they did not want to fight now. I am not lying. So, I did my part. He’s not ready. So, whenever he’s ready, whenever his promoter is ready, we can make it happen.
“No,” Keyshawn said when asked if Cruz lived up to expectations as a pro. “Think of me as a silver medalist. I’ve got the boxing world heated up right now. I’m not right now. Andy Cruz is like eight. He’s not hot. People don’t rush into his heat to go see him fight.
“People are always in the concession stands when he fights. He’s not at my level in terms of execution. He doesn’t do it like me, and that’s the proof in the pudding. Go back and watch our fights. He doesn’t do it like me,” Keyshawn said about Cruz.
