Keyshawn Davis has changed his tune about not being interested in fighting his friend Shakur Stevenson. After hearing Shakur say he wants an offer from Turki Alalshikh to fight him, Keyshawn told him to “send the offer then.” That was quick.
Friendship is out the window for that cold, hard cash between WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) and his “brother” WBO 135-lb Keyshawn (13-0, 9 KOs). The only issue they would have is whether Turki would value the fight enough to want to pay them what the multi-millions that they would expect.
Money on The Mind
They’re not going to fight unless it makes business sense. Keyshawn calls himself ‘The Businessman’, and his career has been maneuvered, avoiding risky opponents and always matched against fighters that he could beat. He’s more of the typical manufactured fighter we see nowadays than the real thing.
On paper, Shakur looks like the better fighter and would likely box circles around Keyshawn unless the sheer size of him crushed him. You can’t rule that out. Davis, 25, looked like a middleweight in his recent fourth-round knockout win over WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk on February 14th at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.
This fight is about as good as it gets for either one of these two because it doesn’t look like the King of the division, Gervonta Davis, is going to fight them. Vasily Lomachenko looks like he’s about to retire, so they can’t count on him.
Keyshawn doesn’t want to fight his former four-time conqueror, Andy Cruz of Cuba, for obvious reasons. None of the other guys are popular enough yet for the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn for a money fight.
Shakur Stevenson: “I’m feeling right now, I wouldn’t fight Keyshawn,” said Shakur to All The Smoke. “That’s my brother.”
Andre Ward: “Man, Turki.”
Shakur: “I wouldn’t fight my blood brother.”
Ward: “At the right time, do what you do.”
Shakur: “I wouldn’t fight my blood brother.”
Ward: “Don’t be surprised if that happens two years from now, a year and a half from now.”
Shakur: “Yeah, send an offer.”
Ward: “Man.”
