Keyshawn Davis is tabbed as American Boxing’s next potential superstar.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist takes on former two-weight world champion Jose Pedraza on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez-Jamaine Ortiz tomorrow night at the Michelob Arena in Las Vegas.
Pedraza presents a leap in ability for the talented lightweight contender. Davis’s last fight saw a majority-decision win over Nahir Albright overturned into a no-decision due to failing a drug test for Marijuana; he served a 90 day suspension. He had previously defeated world title challenger Anthony Yigit by ninth-round stoppage.
“Look, Keyshawn has had a great young career,” Davis’s promoter Bob Arum said in an exclusive interview for ProBox TV. “He has never fought an experienced fighter like Pedraza before. We don’t know how that fight turns out, we will find out Thursday night.”
Davis told ProBox TV that he wanted to face Top Rank stablemate Emanuel Navarrete for a title at lightweight following a predicted win over Pedraza. The three-weight world champion is expected to face long-time mandatory challenger Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight belt.
“If he is ready, then yeah, we will try to make him a title fight or an eliminator in his next fight,” Arum said on the prospect of Davis facing Navarrete. “But, Navarrete, you know, has a job against Berinchyk to win that title. That is no cinch!”
Navarette recently finished his reign at 130 pounds with a majority-decision draw against Robson Conceicao this past November. He has previously scored a wide points victory over Oscar Valdez last August.
