Promoter Bob Arum believes lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis can become the “face of boxing” if he keeps improving steadily. Keyshawn headlines against Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) in a 10-rounder this Friday, November 8th, in front of his hometown fans in Norfolk, Virginia. ESPN+ will be streaming the event live.
The 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) is still a work in progress and hasn’t been extraordinary in several recent fights that his promoters at Top Rank have put him in. Keyshawn doesn’t look like the face of boxing material.
Can Keyshawn Become the Face Of Boxing?
Keyshawn’s clown-like personality outside the ring attracts fans who want to watch him fight. Top Rank will likely need to protect him his entire career the way Tyson Fury has been protected to keep him from losing.
“If he continues to develop the way he has, he will be the face of boxing,” said Bob Arum to Boxing News, talking about the 25-year-old Keyshawn Davis.
If Top Rank can continue to match Keyshawn as they did Edgar Berlanga, they can create an artificial star out of him. In other words, he would be a Milli Vanilli type of star with superficial glamour but no true depth behind him unless he makes huge strides in his ability.
Keyshawn has the Tyson Fury-esque nutty personality to become an attraction outside of the ring, but he hasn’t shown any of the talent that would suggest that he’s capable of defeating the high-level fighters at lightweight.
One would hate to see what Gervonta Davis would do to Keyshawn if that fight happened. Keyshawn was staggered already by Nahir Albright, a non-puncher, and he had a look of pure panic in his fight against Miguel Madueno.
Besides Keyshawn being selectively matched to make him look like 24k gold, he might fall apart at the seams when matched against a true killer at 135, 140, or 147. The way Keyshawn struggled against Miguel Madueno last July when put under pressure was like a flashback of how he fell apart in the finals of the 2020 Olympics against Cuba’s Andy Cruz.
When Cruz put Keyshawn under pressure, he melted. We saw the same thing in Keyshawn’s recent fights against Madueno and Nahir Albright. He doesn’t react well when pressured and is unable to mentally handle battlefield conditions.
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