"This fight is the switch from prospect to contender." Olympic silver medallist Keyshawn Davis takes on Juan Carlos Burgos, live on Sky Sports at 2am on Sunday morning; Davis soon expects to be chasing the elite of his division, like Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney
Thursday 8 December 2022 16:26, UK
Keyshawn Davis believes the right performance in his next fight will take him from being a prospect to becoming a world-class contender.
Davis, the Olympic silver medallist from Norfolk, Virginia, will meet Juan Carlos Burgos on the Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin undercard at Madison Square Garden, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena at 2am on Sunday morning.
This will be just the seventh bout of Davis' professional career.
In contrast Burgos is a hardened veteran. In his 44-bout career, the 34-year-old has gone 10 rounds with Devin Haney, 12 rounds with Mikey Garcia and fought top quality opposition across the world.
Davis however is undaunted. "I think I'm moving fast as hell. I think this is a big step up for me," he told Sky Sports.
"He's going to challenge me in ways I haven't been challenged before. Because professionally, this is my toughest opponent and he has a lot of experience, he's been in the ring with guys like Mikey Garcia, Devin Haney and a lot of former world champions. This is definitely a great step up for me to challenge myself and see if I can stop him as well."
Winning inside the scheduled eight-round distance would be a statement.
"It's all about the performance. I just go in there and beat on him from round one to round eight and just look spectacular with no stoppage so if you go back to watch his other fights you could say Keyshawn beat him the best and this fight was action-packed [then] that's the type of mark I will always want to leave," Davis explained.
"If I stop him then my mark will be made. This guy has fought so many top fighters from different skill levels, to different power levels, to different speeds and he's just never been stopped. He's a tough guy but not only that. He also can fight. He's not in there thinking he's going to lose, he's in there trying to win and trying to pull off upsets.
"Stoppage or not, I'm going to put on a great performance. I think I'm going to outdo every opponent he fought, by stoppage or not. But if I do stop him then that's just going to speak for itself."
Performing at that kind of level would put Davis in the frame to challenge for a world title next year, even at this early stage in his career.
"This fight is the switch from prospect to contender," Davis said. "Lightweight is definitely where I want to get my world titles no matter who has the belts. That's just what I'm gunning for.
He added: "This is the first time I'm saying it publicly. After I win my world title at 135lbs and I defend, I want to challenge some guys at 140lbs as well.
"Because I'm a big 135lbs and I carry my power and a lot of the 135lb guys are going to 140lbs so the landscape is still the same. After I win my world title at 135lbs, you guys at 140 - be ready."
That means he's looking, eventually, to fight elite opponents like Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney.
"Eventually is close," he declared. "It's starting to be like the old days, I feel like. Eventually we're all going to have to fight.
"Losses are not going to mean anything. Look at Teofimo Lopez, he's still headlining at MSG. Nobody really cares about the Kambosos fight and him losing, they just want to see Teofimo Lopez fight. That's really what it should be about. Putting on great fights, putting on big fights and just keeping boxing alive.
"Them guys at the top, they know me," he continued. "They know what's to come. It's up to me to keep doing what I'm doing to get there to fight those guys."
Watch Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin live on Sky Sports Main Event or Sky Sports Arena at 2am on Sunday morning
