April 9, 2023
Source: Virginia Pilot
Photo Source: Keyshawn Davis, shown celebrating after a victory in April 2022, scored a technical knockout of Sweden's Anthony Yigit on Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey. JOHN LOCHER/AP (John Locher/AP)
Norfolk boxer Keyshawn Davis stayed undefeated with a punishing performance Saturday night, winning by a technical knockout of Sweden’s Anthony Yigit early in the ninth round after battering and bloodying him for much of their lightweight bout in a Top Rank card at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Davis improved to 8-0, gaining six of those victories without going the fight’s maximum distance. Wearing black trunks with red “NORFOLK” lettering on the front and his nickname “BusinessMan” on the back, the 24-year-old Granby High graduate dominated. According to CompuBox statistics shown on ESPN’s fight broadcast, Davis landed 55% (152 of 277) of the power punches he tried. Yigit landed just 21% (53 of 256).
On the Bovada website Friday afternoon, bettors needed to wager $20 on Davis to win $1. Davis’ domination reflected it.
Yigit went down about 30 seconds into the third round, but Esteves ruled that it was a slip, according to boxingscene.com writer Keith Idec. Esteves warned Yigit for hitting Davis behind his head soon thereafter.
Consecutive left hooks by Davis made Yigit stumble about 1:15 into the fifth round. Davis’ right hand rocked Yigit about 45 seconds into that round.
There was lots of taunting from both sides in the seventh round, and Yigit’s mouth and nose began to stream blood. Nevertheless, the Swede was waving his arms, asking for more.
“It was fun,” Davis said in an interview in the ring after the bout. “We (were) both talking trash in the ring. He brought that anger out of me but I had to find a way to control it, and we got the victory.”
With a few seconds to go in the eighth round, Davis landed a right hand to Yigit’s solar plexus, dropping him to a knee. Yigit got to his feet, so the fight continued.
Soon after the ninth round began, Davis connected on three punches in a row, two to the head. Though Yigit still appeared alert, referee Benjy Esteves declared the TKO 21 seconds into the round.
Davis, who weighed in at 134.2 pounds, jumped onto the ropes and celebrated the triumph, which was part of the undercard for Newark native Shakur Stevenson’s sixth-round TKO victory over Japan’s Shuichiro Yoshino. Stevenson is a former student at Hampton’s Bethel High.
Yigit fell to 26-3-1 with 10 KOs. Davis, who expects to fight again July 1, according to ringtv.com, said he followed advice from his trainer, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, who counseled him to move to his left, use fakes and allow Yigit to come to him to set up the knockout.
Davis turned his attention to Frank Martin (17-0, 12 KOs), an Indianapolis-based left-hander who is promoted by Errol Spence Jr. and Premier Boxing Champions. Martin, 28, dominated a 12-round bout against Michel Rivera in December.
“For that other southpaw on the other side of the street, this is an example for you. But I can probably do you a little earlier than that,” Davis said. “You and Errol keep saying this and that. But I want to fight. But y’all are calling out other fighters. Why is that? I want to fight you.”
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs), a two-division champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, handed Yoshino (16-1, 12 KOs) his first pro defeat in a World Boxing Council lightweight elimination match.
Stevenson becomes the WBC’s mandatory challenger for the winner between unified lightweight champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) and three-division champ Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs). Stevenson and Haney are promoted by Top Rank.
It’s a matchup that Stevenson said he has wanted for a long time. They’ve sparred on many occasions.
“Tell him to come on,” Stevenson said on ringtv.com. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I swear to God. I’ve been waiting for that for a long time. Me and Devin been in the ring with each other for years. I always got the best of Devin.”
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