Keyshawn Davis’ Norfolk homecoming went smoothly, as the world-level lightweight contender scored three knockdowns and delivered a vicious second-round stoppage win over an overweight Gustavo Lemos to boost genuine championship credentials in his first headline bout at the Scope Arena.
Davis does just what he needed
- Impressive! A soldout 10,568-strong crowd watched at Norfolk’s Scope Arena, Virginia for Keyshawn Davis’ homecoming – the biggest boxing event at this venue since Pernell Whitaker boxed Buddy McGirt in 1994
- Davis, top-3 ranked across three different sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF, WBO) could face Denys Berinchyk as the newly-installed #1 contender while uncertainty remains about IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Lightweight continues to intrigue, after former undisputed king Devin Haney moved up to light-welterweight last December, there’s no clear no. 1 and four titleholders once again including WBA champ Gervonta Davis
R2, 1:08 — Keyshawn Davis bt. Gustavo Lemos via KO, retains WBC USA and WBO Inter-Continental lightweight titles and wins IBF Inter-Continental strap
SO, how did he look? Shakur Stevenson had one word – superstar – while Terence Crawford was even more definitive: ready for whoever’s coming next.
Keyshawn Davis has been craving this recognition, the opportunity to dazzle in-front of the brightest lights, so it felt fitting he wasted no time in the first of what will likely be more home fixtures for the 25-year-old lightweight contender.
“He’s been ready, just needs to be given the opportunity… that’s all it is. One [Keyshawn or Shakur] is gonna get him, it’ll be a great night of boxing when they do,” Crawford mused when asked about which of his “little brothers” would win the much-anticipated Gervonta Davis sweepstakes in 2025.
Such is Tank’s own gravitas, critics and boxers alike are already foreplanning his future despite the three-division world champion having a fight date booked against WBA super-featherweight world champion Lamont Roach Jr on March 1 in Texas.
The biggest compliment Keyshawn could receive after this showing, against an overweight and physically imposing Lemos, is that his namesake has made performances like this one become both expected and seemingly inevitable.
He could’ve easily refused to box on sheer principle alone, though that was never a possibility, as his Argentine opponent came in 5.4lbs over the contracted 136lb weight limit during yesterday’s weigh-ins. Thus, this became a one-sided title eliminator with the hometown hero assuming all of the risk against a dangerous proposition who would’ve known, weeks in advance, he wasn’t making that mark.
“Me and my team stuck to our guns. We said if he comes in too much over, we ain’t gonna fight but he followed his gameplan and didn’t come too much over [at Friday morning’s weight check] – we gave a spectacular night.”
Lemos was unsurprisingly aggressive from the off with big forays forward, though Davis made a conscious effort to soften the 28-year-old’s body while connecting on a variety of jabs and exiting beautifully whenever distance between them got too close for comfort. Lemos’ wild swings foreshadowed counters galore and as he leaped into shots, telegraphing entires, Davis was downloading data.
20 seconds into the second stanza, Lemos was in a heap on the canvas and his senses scrambled. Davis countered him neatly with a right hand he didn’t see, before another knockdown came shortly afterwards: body shot then a left hook he didn’t brace himself for while throwing a right. The sight of a delayed reaction should’ve been enough for referee Raul Caiz Jr to wave it off, but on they went.
Davis danced, if only briefly, as he went downstairs again before connecting on two head shots – the second a fight-ending uppercut – Caiz couldn’t intervene fast enough though damage was long done and decisive. The immediate future remains unclear but after some indifferent displays prior, you’ll want to tune in next time.
Full undercard results, as follows
In the night’s co-feature at middleweight, Troy Isley stayed perfect and improved to 14-0 with a UD10 (98-92, 99-91, 99-91) win over Tyler Howard as the 26-year-old successfully defended his WBO NABO title in another welcome progression boost.
Highly-rated lightweight talent Abdullah Mason tasted his first serious spell of danger – being dropped twice in round one – before emerging with a second-round KO win over Yohan Vasquez in what quickly evolved into a shootout.
Having suffered his first career defeat by impending Naoya Inoue challenger Sam Goodman on the Gold Coast last summer, former super-bantamweight contender Ra’eese Aleem scored a knockdown as he returned to the featherweight ranks with a wide UD10 (100-89 x 3) victory over 12-2 pro Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo.
It proved a happy trifecta for the Davis brothers, as Keyshawn’s older sibling Kelvin connected on a final round knockdown during his welterweight win over Yeis Gabriel Solano (79-72 x 2, 80-71) while young pro debutant Keon swept across the board over four rounds against Jalen Moore in a light-middleweight contest.
21-year-old Virginia talent Austin Deanda has floated between light-middle and super-middleweight since his 2021 debut but won well over eight rounds (77-75, 77-75, 78-74) against DeAundre Pettus at middleweight here, while fellow prospect Robert Meriwether was a UD6 winner (59-55 x 2, 60-54) at Eric Howard’s expense.
Picture source: Mikey Williams / Top Rank, quotes via ESPN broadcast
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