We have a new WBO lightweight champion, and his name is Keyshawn Davis.
The Norfolk, Virginia, native put on a masterful performance on Friday night at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York, en route to a fourth-round KO victory over Denys Berinchyk.
While the first two rounds were a bit clumsy due to frequent body clashes and holding, Davis ultimately found his rhythm in the third round and finished the deal with a vicious body shot in the fourth.
Here is a look at the finish:
Davis promised an early KO, and he delivered. After the fight, the boxing world erupted with reactions to Davis’ definitive victory.
ESPN Ringside compared Davis’ triumph to other past world champions who won their first world title in 14 pro fights or fewer.
Undisputed women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields took to X to congratulate Davis.
Combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani called Davis a “star.”
After the fight, Davis admitted he needed a couple of rounds to get Berinchyk’s timing down, but once he did, the 25-year-old made the fight look easy.
Berinchyk was at a major disadvantage in length, speed, and punching power. Davis did a great job fighting tall, winning the inside wrestling, and displaying superior hand speed.
The cherry on top was the power. Whenever Davis landed, it was clear he had a far bigger impact with his shots. The bodywork was especially effective, as it led to the finish. The result of the fight put an end to a nasty, bad-blood week between the two men.
There were a pair of tense faceoffs, a pushing incident, and someone sent a racist basket to Davis’ hotel room. Berinchyk and his team were blamed, but it doesn’t appear anything was confirmed.
Still, Top Rank Boxing, the promoter of the fight, found it serious enough to release a statement. Also, ESPN’s Joe Tessitore addressed the situation on multiple occasions during the broadcast.
In any case, it is on to the next one for the new champion. Davis has his eyes on unification. WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and Davis are close friends, so it is highly unlikely those two will meet.
However, Davis has made it clear he’d love to challenge WBA champion Gervonta Davis or IBF king Vasiliy Lomachenko. A fight with Lomachenko probably makes the most sense, considering both men are promoted by Top Rank.
The winner of that fight should face the winner of Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach, which happens on March 1. A scrap with Stevenson to unify could then potentially happen in early 2026.
However, that’s what things would look like in an ideal world—but boxing rarely functions in an ideal way. As it stands, we’ll have to wait to see what happens following Stevenson’s title defense against Floyd Schofield on February 22 and Davis’ defense against Roach on March 1.
Likewise, everyone is waiting to see when—or if—Lomachenko will fight again. In any case, Davis is just getting started.
