Keyshawn Davis says he wants to fight Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for his first title defense of his WBO lightweight belt in April in Las Vegas. Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) says a win over Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) will transform him into a PPV attraction. That sounds like a pipe dream. If beating Pitbull was the key to becoming a PPV star, Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela would be one now.
Cruz: The Dream Opponent
Keyshawn doesn’t say who his plan B option is when Pitbull Cruz chooses not to fight him. Andy Cruz would likely agree to fight Keyshawn, and he wouldn’t have to beg. He’d take that fight in a second to have a chance of beating Keyshawn for the fifth time. The Cuban talent is 4-0 against Keyshawn, who doesn’t want to know him as a pro.
It’s another example of Keyshawn Davis cherry-picking an opponent to take the backdoor route to become a star. He wants no part of fighting his four-time conqueror, Andy Cruz, preferring easier options where a positive outcome is guaranteed.
Davis says it “would sell” and that when Mexicans and African Americans fight, “It’s always a mega-fight.” He sounds really naive. The chances of Isaac Cruz agreeing to fight Keyshawn are slim, and none. He recently turned down a fight against Ryan Garcia on the May 2nd Riyadh Season card.
If Cruz is turning down a lucrative fight like that, he sure as heck isn’t going to agree to fight a huge lightweight like Keyshawn for less money. The size of Keyshawn would factor in Cruz’s decision because he’s into fighting weight bullies.
Davis looked like he’d rehydrated into the mid-150s for his fight last Friday night against Denys Berinchyk at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. Berinchyk, 5’7″, looked so small compared to the fully rehydrated Keyshawn, and he never stood a chance.
Keyshawn isn’t a star, and neither is Pitbull Cruz. If they staged the fight in Keyshawn’s hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, it would sell over there but not bring in a lot of money due to the low cost of tickets.
Cruz, 5’4″, would be giving away five inches in height and reach to the 5’9″ Keyshawn. It’s not a good matchup for Cruz if he’s hoping to win. He was easily outboxed by Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, losing his WBA light welterweight title by a 12-round split decision on August 3rd last year.
It’s a size and talent mismatch. It would only make sense for Pitbull Cruz to take the fight if Top Rank is willing to pay him over a million, which is doubtful they would unless ESPN were willing to chip in the dough. Whatever Cruz gets, Keyshawn would likely want double.
A Bridge to PPV?
“I want to fight Isaac Cruz. That would sell,” said Keyshawn Davis to Ariel Helwani’s YouTube channel when asked who he wants to fight in April. “I think we’d both make some money off it. It can make sense.
“Let’s be real. Mexicans and African Americans, when we fight, it’s always a mega-fight. It’s respect for that team over there, and it’s respect over here. I think we can make that fight happen. Isaac Cruz has been making noise ever since then [losing to Gervonta Davis in 2021], knocking guys out.
“He had a tremendous fight in his last fight [Angel Fierro]. He fought two weeks before me. I called him out on Twitter, and everybody was backing it. ‘Yo, focus on Berinchyk, but we would love to see that fight,'” said Keyshawn about his callout of Pitbull Cruz. “I think that’s a Las Vegas fight. After that, depending on how when it goes how it’s going to go, we calling PPV after that fight,” said Davis.
It would be a miracle for Keyshawn to get a fight against Pitbull Cruz. It’s doable if Top Rank wants to pay Cruz massive dough and lose money on the fight. If they see it as an investment in manufacturing a star as they did with Edgar Berlanga, it wouldn’t be a big deal if the event hemorrhaged money.
“Not only Shakur. Keyshawn also,” said Terence Crawford to Cigar Talk about his belief that Keyshawn and Shakur would beat Tank Davis. “Tank gets hit too much. In my eyes, Tank is always losing until he’s not. Let Keyshawn start hitting him like everyone else is hitting him. Let him start hitting him like everyone else. He’s going to clean him.
“He punches too sharp. That’s why Keyshawn hits someone with a clean shot, ‘Boom! What the f***.'” said Crawford. “If he gives him time to grow, it’s going to be hell. If anything, he better catch him now because Keyshawn is doing nothing but getting better and better and better,” said Crawford about his belief that Gervonta Davis needs to fight Keyshawn before he develops.
“It’s better to get him while he’s still green, Now, he’s got a world title. That’s going to boost his confidence even more, and his ability to believe in himself even more. Maybe he can take that into 140 and do the same,” said Crawford.
