Trainer Greg Hackett is picking Keyshawn Davis to knock out WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk in his next fight on February 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hackett believes the 36-year-old Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) is no longer at his peak and is perfect for Keyshawn (12-0, 8 KOs) by knockout.
Davis is not a knockout puncher, and was injured when he tried to KO Nahir Albright. Berinchyk has more than enough skills and power to expose Keyshawn and show the fans that he is still the same fighter that Andy Cruz of Cuba beat four times.
Berinchyk’s technical forward
Top Rank is hyping Davis like crazy, trying to turn him into a star without putting him in a risky fight against Cruz or some of the other killers.
They were wrong in their last fight involving Berinchyk when they pitted the famous Mexican fighter Emanuel Navarrete against him, only to see the Ukrainian talent beaten. Now, it’s Keyshawn’s turn. If he loses this fight to Berinchyk, you can bet Top Rank will keep their fighters well away from him.
“Keyshawn put up a hell of a fight in his last performance (against Gustavo Lemos). He has a tough guy in front of him. This guy, Berinchyk, is not soft, but he is not at his peak. He is past his peak. He can fight and all that, but he’s past his peak,” coach Greg Hackett said YSM Sports MediaThey are talking about the WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk, who Keyshawn Davis will challenge after February 14.
“I think Keysahwn is going to work and stop him in the eighth round. He’s going to work, though. A good jab, a good right hand. Keyshawn in this fight is going to have to slow things down. Don’t go in a hurry, looking for a knockout .I’m not saying he went looking for a knockout against Lemos.
“This kind of happened because Lemos was forcing the action. In this one, Berinchyk will be a little more strategic. He will beat him a little bit. So in this one, he (Davis) will take his time, break it, go to that body a little, sneak some uppercuts there, and sneak some hooks there,” Hackett said.
Davis’ win over Gustavo Lemos was due to his wrestling with the 5’5 1/2″ slow puncher, who was coming off a loss to Richardson Hitchins and had moved down from 140 to take the fight. Keyshawn he handpicked him.Davis saw Lemos being beaten by Hitchins.
Why not Andy Cruz?
These are the questions you have to ask Davis: Why pick a fighter coming off a loss fighting at light welterweight? Andy Cruz was available at 135, and had already beaten Keyshawn four times.
“Keyshawn’s going to slow down, and in the eighth round, he’s going to stop. Not about the house, but this, we’ll talk a little bit, but not about the house,” Hackett said when asked if this fight will make Keyshawn Davis a name of family if he is victorious against Berinchyk.
“For the family, he will need a Teo (Lopez), he will need an “Africa” (Richardson Hitchins). He will need someone to be a home. It must be one of them, “Oh, okay.” This is, ‘Oh okay, I see you, but I need an oh, okay. You’re not f****ing around,'” Hackett said.
In order for Keyshawn to become a household name, he will have to beat these fighters:
- Gervonta Davis
- Shakur Stevenson
- Andy Cruz
- Edwin Delos Santos
- Guglielmo Zepeda
Unfortunately, Keyshawn probably won’t fight any of those guys, so he may never become a household name. It will only be known by hardcore boxing fans. What he should do is move up to 147 and take on Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to see if he can beat him. He’s the same size as Boots, and if he wins, he’ll be a household name.
A Welterweight In Disguise?
He probably won’t do that, though, because Ennis will beat him, and he didn’t want to take the risk. Keyshawn should fight at 147 because he is a welterweight in size. If Boots wanted to game the system he would do the same thing as Keyshawn is cut down to 135 to fight the smaller kids but he is brave and doesn’t pull a weak move like that.
“If you give me two bodies, there’s another body missing. I need three. I need them to really go down,” Hackett said when asked if Keyshawn needs a knockout against Berinchyk. “This is going to be a good one, though. Berinchyk is going to bring some tricks. So, that’s why I’m saying Keyshawn is going to have to be patient.”
Keyshawn is not a knockout puncher, so Hackett took things away from him because he has never been that type of fighter. His recent KO against Lemos was due to him fighting a tiny 5’5″ guy with no hand speed who hit like a Neanderthal man. It was made to order for him or any fighter at 135.
“Don’t be greedy in this fight. Pick your job. Don’t be greedy. Not everything, but he’s going to bring out a couple of sets of equipment,” Hackett said about Davis. “He’s going to bring it all, but he doesn’t need the big bag, but he’s going to need a bag,” Hackett said of whether Davis will need to bring it all to defeat Berinchyk.
Davis will get greedy and try to score a knockout against Berinchyk. This would result in him being cut as he was in his fight against Nahir Albright, who knocked him out in the eighth round when he tried to KO.
Lessons from Cruz
“You don’t have to bring everything because it’s not going to be all in front of you,” Hackett said. “Sometimes, we think we need a lot, but sometimes, all you need is a basic jab, a basic right hand, and a basic hook with good distance. Sometimes, that’s all you need. It could I need a little more than that, but I don’t need all of it.
“That’s what we think sometimes. It just needs a good, sturdy bag,” said Hackett, who sounds like a cheerleader for Keyshawn.
Davis needs a lot more than a “study bag” to defeat Berinchyk because this guy is technically a better fighter than him, with many more amateurs and professionals. Keyshawn was discovered by Andy Cruz of Cuba, who beat him for the fourth time in the Olympics 2020. He also exposed him to be a limited fighter with little more than a jab.
