And The New: Keyshawn Davis Stops Denys Berinchyk To Win WBO Title

In nothing less than a star-making performance, Keyshawn Davis of Norfolk, Virginia (13-0, 9 KOs) thoroughly disarmed Denys Berinchyk of Ukraine (19-1, 9 KOs) to become the new WBO World Lightweight champion at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden.

Davis said he was born to be a world champion. “It’s an amazing feeling, man. Right before I knocked him out, I was hearing the crowd say ‘Norfolk, Norfolk, Norfolk.’ I was like, man, I gotta knock him out now. Boom!”

After a patient first round, Davis got down to work. Berinchyk is a “by any means necessary” winner, willing to tie up and make a fight rough on the inside to slow down his opponent. He doesn’t care whether the win is aesthetically pleasing.

Davis said he found Berinchyk’s awkward in-and-out footwork difficult at first, but he did not take long to solve that problem. In the third round, Davis landed a classic left hook to the body. Berinchyk rose with a rueful look on his face.

Davis turned up the heat, with Berinchyk trying to hold to slow him down. Davis looked like a man who found the right key to unlock the safe, but he was smart enough not to get reckless. After the round, trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre praised Davis but warned him not to get careless.

Credit: Video Courtesy Sean Zittel

It didn’t happen. Davis waited for his opportunity. Before landing the body shot that finished Berinchyk off, he looked over to his stablemate, two-time undisputed world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, who had been shouting instructions throughout the fight.

“He told me, “I told you it was going to be a body shot, man.’ He kept telling me double my shots up. When I did land to the body, it was two shots, and the second one put him down,” said the elated Davis.

See the Berinchyk vs Davis highlights here.

Berinchyk was leaning to hold onto Davis, and with his head down, he never saw the knockout blow coming. He dropped onto his knees. As Davis waved his arms over his head as if to wave off the fight himself in the neutral corner, referee Harvey Dock gave Berinchyk the complete count. He didn’t move because he could not get up.

“I’ve never really had problems with awkward fighters. The only thing that was kind of giving me a little trouble was him jumping in and out … He was a little faster than I expected. As rounds went on and on. The fourth round did it to him,” recalled Davis.

Victory Is A Family Affair for Davis

Twitter video courtesy Sean Zittel, BWAA

Davis had his brothers and family ringside, including his infant son Keyshawn Jr., who he said has given him even more motivation. “I had to do it for my boy,” said Davis. He promised the hometown fans cheering him on that his next fight would be at home. “Norfolk, Virginia, you got a world champion! We’re coming to the crib!”

Davis said having McIntyre, Crawford, and the entire stable in Omaha, Nebraska, around him made all the difference.

“Ever since we got with these guys, we been growing great chemistry. We’ve been growing as a family together … Terence is definitely, family man, all love for sure.” Crawford has called Davis his little brother, and his influence is easy to see in Davis’s smart approach, skill set, and drive.

Future Plans for the New Champion Davis

Even a new champion is asked to look to the future within moments of a win, and Davis was happy to oblige. Though he would not name anyone, he made it clear he had Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis in his plans.

“Anybody that got the balls to step in the ring and fight me! Tell them come on! There are two 135-division champions who I would love to fight. If they’ve got the guts to step in the ring with The Businessman, tell them send me a contract or I’ll send them one.”

Although Davis says he has no interest in facing his Olympic foe Andy Cruz, who defeated Davis at the Tokyo 2020 Games to win the gold medal, it’s a fight I’d love to see.

Davis left the fans with a message based on his experience of overcoming childhood trauma and mental health struggles, about which he’s spoken openly.

“I’ve been to the mental home. I was one of those kids that was taking medicine every single day. I lost myself, and I had to find myself again. I’m here right now on national television telling everybody going through mental health, in the dark or in the daylight. Just take it day by day. And one day, you will overcome it. Never give up on yourself.”

Body of Work Powers Zayas To TKO9 Over Spomer

Junior middleweight Xander Zayas of Puerto Rico (21-0, 13 KO) could have been content to deliver a disciplined and dominated decision win against unbeaten opponent Slawa Spomer of Germany (20-1, 11 KOs).

For the majority of the fight, that’s exactly what Zayas did. Trainer Javier Centeno said he would have been happy to see the talented 22-year-old box his way to the win. But where’s the fun in that?

After the seventh round, Centeno told Zayas to pick it up and gave him the green light to stop Spomer if the opportunity presented itself.

Set up by a focused body attack, Zayas drilled Spomer with a left hook to the liver when the German expected a headshot and was left open. Although he didn’t get knocked down, he was disabled, and Zayas swarmed in. Referee Charlie Fitch stepped in after he saw Spomer failing to respond to Zayas, giving Zayas a ninth-round TKO win. The time of the stoppage was 2:01.

Spomer protested, and his trainer, Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr., shook his head as Spomer returned to the corner. Zayas offered a gracious thank you to Jones Jr. and Spomeafterof the bout, which speaks well for the way the young contender handles himself.

Zayas occasionally made things a bit spicy when his defense slipped and let Spomer rattle him with a hard shot. But Zayas’ chin held on those rare occasions.

How rare were they? Zayas landed 257 of 708 punches thrown (36%), with 86 of those landing on the body. Spomer landed just 39 punches in 10 rounds of 499 thrown (7.8%). Not a typo, I promise.

Zayas is making solid progress, but at 22 years old and not fully into his man strength, he’s got time for fights against solid opposition like Spomer before throwing him in with the best at 154 pounds. There is no need to rush him as long as he makes good progress like he did Friday.

Charles Conwell offered himself up on X/Twitter.

Mielnicki Jr. and Coyle Battle To A Draw

Full credit to middleweights Vito Mielnicki Jr. of New Jersey (20-1-1, 12 KOs) and Connor Coyle of Ireland (21-0-1, 9 KOs) for opening the main card with a solid scrap through ten hard, competitive rounds. In the end, judges scored the fight a majority draw, with one giving it to Mielnicki Jr., 96-94. The remaining cards were even at 95-95.

 Both fighters and teams couldn’t hide their dismay. They dropped the arms they hoped would be raised and left the ring and the minor belts behind without comment.

In a close fight with multiple swing rounds, the hometown or A-side fighter gets the nod. This time, Coyle got the benefit of the doubt from two judges who scored the final round for Coyle when it seemed Mielnicki Jr. had the Irishman buzzed. Had the scores gone to Mielnicki Jr., he would have won by majority decision.

In the fourth round, a Mielnicki Jr. right uppercut caused a vicious cut outside Coyle’s left eye. Ruled initially from a headbutt by referee Steve Willis, instant replay was available to the New York State Athletic Commission and properly ruled. This could have been critical had the fight been stopped due to the cut, but Coyle’s team managed it enough to let him continue.

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