Shakur Stevenson reiterated this week that he will never fight his good friend, Keyshawn Davis, regardless of the money he is offered. The WBC lightweight champion says he and Keyshawn used to go to gyms when they were younger and beat up different fighters. They became close.
Stevenson says he and Keyshawn will “to take over the sport of boxing.” So far, neither of these two fighters has shown the ability to be a top draw in the sport. Shakur has a dated, boring 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 is huge for a lightweight and should probably fight at 147 instead of 135. He looks massive 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 for naught.
Fighting smaller, older guys in the lightweight division, Keyshawn has a chance at a young age to become a champion, but not a star. If he progresses to where he should be fighting at welterweight, he is fodder for fighters in this division.
“As we were coming up, me and Keyshawn would go to every gym, and we’d thrash**. We went to gyms and fought [fighters] on plain s***,” Shakur Stevenson told Cigar Talk’s YouTube channel on why he will never fight Keyshawn Davis.
“Any gym. Like on a high level. When I went to spar with Lomachenko, Keyshawn was beating some other Olympic gold medalist there. Keyshawn was always with me. Once 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 download the sport of boxing. Now the fans are going to be looking and wanting to see us fight,” Shakur said of fans starting to push to see him and Keyshawn fight in a division that lacks big-name fighters at the top.
Undefeated, untested
Keyshawn fell short in the 2020 Olympics, losing to Andy Cruz of Cuba. It was not a close fight. As professionals, Keyshawn and Shakur have yet to defeat a single high-level fighter. 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 Vasili 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. Fans boo him constantly every time he fights, and he has no fan base outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
Keyshawn has never fought anyone of any talent during his career and has shown no interest in avenging his four losses to Andy Cruz. He seems interested in taking the easy way out, challenging WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk next month on February 14. Davis says he believes the fight with WBA champion Gervonta Davis will happen when he wins the WBO title. That sounds like a pipe 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 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 might be his best option for a big fight in the lightweight division. Unless Turki offers Tank Davis mega-millions, that fight won’t happen for Stevenson. IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko probably won’t fight Shakur either because he’s approaching 37 and doesn’t want to fight a runner at this late stage in his career. If he were younger, Loma would take that fight in a second. But now that doesn’t seem likely.
Once you take Tank and Lomachenko out of the equation, Keyshawn is the only one left for Shakur. There’s William Zepeda, but he’s not going to give Shakur the payday that a fight against Loma and Gervonta would.
Keyshawn’s career best wins
– Gustavo Lemos: *’5’4″ unloaded 140 lb. fighter
– Nahir Albright: *tying Keyshawn 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
