US Olympics Silver Medalist Nabs Pro "Gold"; Keyshawn Davis Wins WBO Crown by Knockout
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 Feb 2025
First, some trivia items:
We all know that it was Floyd Mayweather Jr who turned an Olympics featherweight bronze medal into unprecedented pure "gold" in professional boxing by winning world titles and dominating from super featherweights through super welterweights spanning five weight classes.
But it was Oscar De La Hoya who is the first and still only American Olympics boxing gold medalist at lightweight (Barcelona 1992) to also win a major Pro Boxing world title at the same division, achieving the feat in the mid 1990s.
Now, we can add Keyshawn Davis, a Tokyo 2020/21 Olympics boxing silver medalist to the list of former American amateur standouts who could have somehow underachieved in the simonpure ranks but has found success in the pros.
Davis thoroughly beat up Ukrainian defending titlist Denys Berenchyk for three rounds before putting him away with a deadly body shot in the fourth to crown himself as the new WBO lightweight world champion yesterday at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Davis won his first pro boxing world championship in only his 15th paid bouts, all wins except an earlier no decision, with nine knockouts.
The taller American initially found difficulties with Berenchyk's defensive stance and movements but soon found home for his blistering punches that just as soon marked the 36-year-old Ukrainian champion.
The end came at a little over the first minute of the fourth round after Davis slammed home a wicked uppercut to the body that folded Berenchyk and sent him down on his knees where the referee, seeing enough, stopped the fight.
Davis was silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics and earlier at the 2019 Pan American Games and World Championships, losing to the same Cuban finals adversary, Andy Cruz.
With the win, Davis has lined himself up for a high profile and lucrative unification match against his surname-sake Gervonta Tank Davis to whom he personally issued a challenge after the match.
However, Andy Cruz who has also turned pro but much later than Keyshawn may not be very far behind, and if Keyshawn remains world titlist until next two years, they could be up for their own unfinished business.
Berenchyk failed in his first defense of the then vacant WBO title he won by split decision over Mexico's Emanuel Navarette.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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