Keyshawn Davis says he wants fights against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz next and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis before moving up to 140.

Keyshawn (13-0, 9 KOs) states that he’s not going to be at lightweight much longer, and he feels that a fight between him and ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) and Tank Davis would be a “major event.”

Keyshawn’s Targets

It could be possible if Top Rank is willing to pay Pitbull big money to be used as an opponent for Keyshawn. However, for Keyshawn to get that fight, there would likely need to be a rehydration clause to make the fight fair.

The 5’4″ Isaac Cruz is a small lightweight, and he would be dwarfed if Keyshawn walks into the ring looking like a full-blown middleweight on the night of the fight like he did last Friday in his match against WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.

Would Keyshawn agree to a 10-lb rehydration clause for a fight against Isaac Cruz? I doubt it. Even if there were one, it would be essential to have the secondary weight check done in the evening fight night, somewhere around 6:00 pm. That would make the fight fair.

Davis doesn’t say his other options if he can’t get either of those guys to fight him, but he’s still not interested in fighting Andy Cruz. He says he’s not popular enough to fight.

“I still want to settle something at 135 that’s a bigger name than Teofimo Lopez,” said Keyshawn Davis to the Ariel Helwani YouTube channel, hinting that he’s going to continue to chase Gervonta Davis at lightweight. “The boxing world and the casuals don’t know how great I am. Isaac Cruz would be a major event and of course, a Gervonta. So, I got unfished business at 135.

“13-0, and I handled that guy [36-year-old Denys Berinchyk] with ease. So, each fight, I’m going to show you how good I am and how great I’m going to become. When the time is right, I would love to fight him just to shut everybody up,” said Keyshawn about Andy Cruz. “I will knock him out when I do fight him in the professional ranks.

“I’m a big 135. So, I’m not going to be at 135 for too much longer. I’m fighting him before I move up to 140. Andy Cruz only brings up my name. He doesn’t mention any other name. So, he’s building his career off me literally. When he loses to me, what’s next? What are you going to do? Eddie Hearn is telling him to do all this. Andy Cruz has got some charisma. So, he’s doing it in a good way, a good fashion.”

Ignoring Andy Cruz

It sounds like Keyshawn wants nothing to do with fighting Andy Cruz, and he will move up to 140 without fighting him. Davis says he’s got two fights left at 135, and he wants those to be against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Gervonta Davis. So, that means he’s NOT going to fight Andy before moving up, which doesn’t surprise me.

“He’s got a lot of amateur stuff, bouncing around the ring, similar to Berinchyk. He’s got a lot of amateur things,” said Keyshawn about Cruz. “I feel he’s got more grooming to do,” said Keyshawn about Andy Cruz. “We’re giving him too much credit here talking about him, but I feel he doesn’t have a big American fanbase either.”

Fans would be more interested in a Keyshawn vs. Cruz fight than in anyone he’s faced during his 13-fight professional career. Berinchyk wasn’t more popular in the U.S. than Andy Cruz, and neither were the other 12 he’s fought.

Keyshawn’s Last 7 Opponents:

– Denys Berinchyk: 36
– Gustavo Lemos
– Miguel Madueno: Coming off a loss
– Jose Pedraza: *0-2-1 record going into Davis fight
– Nahir Albright
– Francesco Patera
– Anthony Yigit

“So, that fight, in terms of marketing, is going to be lopsided right now. I feel like he’s got to knock some guys out, so it’ll sell better, period,” said Keyshawn about Cruz. “He needs to build himself up a little more. It’s the same thing they were telling me when I was 5-0.”

If Andy Cruz starts fighting the same guys that Keyshawn has been feasting on, he’ll be scoring knockouts like him. He would be cherry-picking, but if that soft bunch was good enough for Keyshawn to produce knockouts, it should be okay with Andy. Cruz’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom, wouldn’t stoop to using those low-level opponents to build his career.

Cruz is the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, and he doesn’t need to be matched against C-level opposition to build a fake record. Top Rank matches Keyshawn as they did with Edgar Berlanga when he was with that company. No difference.