When asked by followers on social media last Saturday night, Keshawn Davis dismissed the idea of a fight against newly crowned IBF light heavyweight champion Richardson Hitchins.
Richardson would be pure trouble due to his boxing skills, power, accuracy and mobility. His ring IQ is on a different level than Keyshawn’s, and he is capable of beating him like Cuban Andy Cruz did four times in the past.
Lightweight contender Kishon (12-0, 8 KOs) feels he has the edge over Hitchins (19-0, 8 KOs) due to the recent fan response to his last fight on November 8 against Gustavo Lemos at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Keyshawn’s match against Lemos in the light heavyweight category had 10,568 attendees.
Businessman strategy
Davis sees the number of visitors and his second-round knockout victory over Lemos (29-2, 19 KOs) as indications that he is one of the “elite” in the 135-pound division. However, the 5’5″ Lemos looked exhausted after Davis picked them for this fight. That performance just showed that Keyshawn could be a jaded, slow, tiny fighter who doesn’t belong at 135.
Keishhavn could have chosen an easy candidate Andy Cruzfighter with a 4-0 record against him since amateurs, including the 2020 Olympic finals, but wanted Lemos. Interestingly, he lost to Hitchins on April 6.
Instead of Davis fighting Cruz, he chose a recently defeated fighter, and now he’s putting himself in the mix “elite” at 135. Here’s a classic matchmaking 101 example: creating a manufactured star. You can’t blame Keishavan for the hustle. It’s the fans who can’t see what’s going on.
Hitchins looked incredible last Saturday night on December 7th, outpointing welterweight champion Liam Parro (25-1, 15 KOs) for a 12-round split decision win at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The scores were 116-112, 116-112 for Hitchins and 117-111. I was 10-2 for Hitchins.
“You all keep talking about Hitchins. F*** Hitchins. I don’t care about him,” Keyshawn Davis said on social media last Saturday after Richardson Hitchins’ masterful performance against IBF light heavyweight champion Liam Parro in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Brother already knows what it is when it comes to me.” I’m 12-0, with eight knockouts, getting ready to fight for a world title (against WBO 140-pound champion Denis Berinchik), 13-0. Knocking people out, putting on crazy shows, selling out 10,000 arenas (Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia).
“What can you say, brother? 11,000 fans. You can’t say too much. That’s what I’m saying,” Davis said.
Kishon says he will next fight WBO lightweight champion Dennis Berinchik (19-0, 9 KOs) in February. The guy is perceived as the weakest link among the lightweight champions, but he has a good chance of beating Keyshawn. As we saw in Davis’ fight against Nahir Albright, he is still the same fighter that Cruz beat in the Olympics. He didn’t improve at all.
Keyshawn’s success since turning pro in 2021 has been a product of Berlanga-esque soft camaraderie and his greater importance than the guys he’s fought.
Is Keishavn elite?
“I proved that I am with the elite.” I’m not just a fighter making noise. I’m with the elite,” Kishon told Mark Kriegel of the ESPN. “I sell too. There were 10,000 fans and all 10,000 fans got a good look at who ‘The Businessman’ was that night,” Davis said of his victory over Lemos on Nov. 8 in Norfolk.
Selling more than 10,000 tickets does not make Kishon a star. It just means that Norfolk fans are willing to come and watch him fight, which may reflect that it is a low-entertainment town compared to the big cities.
If Davis was from Los Angeles or New York, he wouldn’t be drawing in those cities because there are too many other sources of entertainment for fans. You have to produce in those areas or have an amazing following like Ryan Garcia on social media.
