Shakur Stevenson reiterated this week that he will never fight his good friend Keeshon Davis, no matter what money is offered to him. The WBC lightweight champion says he and Kishon used to go to gyms when they were younger and beat up different fighters. They became close.
Stevenson says he and Keyshawn will “take the sport of boxing.” So far, neither of these two fighters has shown the ability to be the top draw in the sport. Shakur has the dated, boring style of Mayweather on his last legs, and Keyshawn has a similar style.
Weight Bully?
The difference with Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) is that he’s huge for a lightweight and should probably be fighting at 147 instead of 135. He looks huge for a lightweight. If Keyshawn had to fight where he belongs at welterweight against killers like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennishis career would be worth nothing.
Keyshawn’s promoters at Top Rank would probably never agree to let him fight Boots because his chances of success would be non-existent and their investment in his career would be wasted.
Fighting smaller, older guys in the lightweight division, Keeshon has a chance to become a champion while still young, but not a star. If he progresses to where he should be fighting at welterweight, he is fodder for fighters in this division.
“When we got here, me and Keyshawn would go to every gym, and we’d whip each other up**. We used to go to gyms and beat (fighters) on some regular s***s,” Shakur Stevenson told Cigar Talk. YouTube channel on why he will never fight Keyshawn Davis.
“Any gym. Like at a high level. When I went to spar with Lomachenko, Keyshawn was there beating some other Olympic gold medalist. Keishavn was always with me. When you get to that level, we knew this day would come.
“It was only a matter of time.” We knew we would both be able to whip (fighters) a** and take over boxing. Now the fans are going to demand and want to see us fight,” Shakur said of the fans who have begun clamoring to see him and Keyshawn fight in a division that lacks big-name fighters at the top.
Undefeated, untested
Quichon fell short in the 2020 Olympics, losing to Cuban Andy Cruz. It was not a close fight. As professionals, Keishavn and Shakur have yet to defeat any high-level fighters. Shakur has beaten a couple of washed-up older and smaller fighters, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring, but hasn’t faced anyone at the top level. That’s why he was chosen to defend against Floyd Schofield. Shakur is desperate.
He called out Vasily Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis, but didn’t get a bite out of either of those fighters. One explanation for this is Stevenson’s boring style. He is constantly booed by fans every time he fights and has no fans outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
Keyshawn has never fought anyone of any talent during his tenure and has shown no interest in avenging his four losses to Andy Cruz. He seems keen to take the easy way out, challenging WBO lightweight champion Denis Berinchik next month on February 14. Davis says he believes a fight with WBA champion Gervont Davis will happen when he wins the WBO title. That sounds like a dream.
“It’s not about the money,” Shakur said when told that Turki Al-Sheikh would likely offer him and Keyshawn a lot of money if the two fought. “It’s not about the money. I’m not one of those (fighters) that money makes me, bro.”
It’s too bad Shakur doesn’t want to fight his friend, Keyshawn, because that could be his best option for a big fight at lightweight. Unless Turki offers Tank Davis mega-millions, that fight won’t happen for Stevenson. IBF lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko probably won’t fight Shakur either because he’s approaching 37 years old and doesn’t want to fight a runner at this late stage of his career. If he were younger, Loma would take that fight in a second. Now, however, it doesn’t seem likely.
When you remove Tank and Lomachenko from the equation, Kishon is the only one left for Shakur. There’s William Zepeda, but he’s not going to give Shakur the salary that a fight against Loma and Gervonta would.
Kishon’s career best wins
– Gustavo Lemos: *’5’4″ lean 140 lb fighter
– Nahir Albright: *Keshon’s razor-thin win. Wounded in battle
– Miguel Madueno: *The fight was more like a WWE battle
– Jose Pedraza: *35 years old, much smaller and past his prime