KEYSHAWN TO THE KINGDOM
T he Instagram post from February 15 said it all when it comes to where Keyshawn Davis’ head and heart are at. The Norfolk, Virginia, native had just taken his first world title from Denys Berinchyk at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, and in the locker room after the fight, he took some photos with his new belt and his biggest fan: his five-month-old son, Keyshawn Jr. “DaDa did it Big Boy,” Davis wrote. “We Champions Of The World!” After a long week in the Big Apple, complete with some heated exchanges with his Ukrainian foe and a disgusting racial incident that saw a box of bananas and a watermelon delivered to Keyshawn’s hotel room from an unknown source, followed by some tasteless trolling from Teofimo Lopez, this was the feel-good moment needed for Team Davis.
knew that I was going to beat this guy up,” Davis said. “So I’m more so excited about what’s to come, what I got next, what I got planned for the future. How far are we about to take this? This is my first world title. Now I got to go through my first defense, and then I do my first pay-per-view. So it’s going to be a lot of first things for me now. And this was definitely one of the first big moments.” It wasn’t just a big moment on fight night. During the lead-up to the event, there was a buzz around town, a feeling like something special was about to take place. And as Davis made the media rounds, he tossed cliches to the side and revealed himself in a more complete fashion than most of his peers. It’s almost like he was made to be different. Most specifically, Davis’
then not just his homecoming fight, but probably the biggest night of his life, says something extraordinary about him. We sat down for what I thought was going to be a pretty normal pre- fight interview, and he starts talking about being taken away in a straitjacket in high school. “That’s not necessarily what you want your young fighter to be talking about before his big fight against a guy who’s blown weight by more than six pounds. And he kept on in pretty excruciating detail without any sense of ambivalence about it. And my feeling is that all of us have these shadow selves, particularly fighters, and usually that shadow self is the very reason why you became a fighter. But the idea that Keyshawn could make peace with the most vulnerable, screwed-up version
of himself in public on the eve of this big night, to me, that makes him an extraordinary kid – but also as a fighter, pretty dangerous.” Davis didn’t blink when Lemos clocked in at 141.5 pounds for the lightweight bout, and he proceeded to drop his foe three times en route to a second-round knockout win that lifted his perfect record to 12-0 with eight knockouts. He was ready for gold and everything that
“[Keyshawn has] been through the fire, and when you’ve been through the fire, you have a much better chance of not panicking the next time it gets hot.”
But Junior stole the show with his wide-eyed expression as he touched dad’s WBO lightweight championship strap. Is this an early sign that Junior might one day put on the gloves? “Hell, no,” the new champ said. “For what? I did all the hard work. I’m making the job easy.” That’s true in two ways. At 26 years old, Davis is already
laying a foundation that guarantees his family will be financially secure long after he retires. Second, all that hard work has allowed him to make his job look easy. That’s impressive in any weight class, but especially in the lightweight division. Then again, Davis was built for this, and success was expected from the 2020 Olympic silver medalist. It wasn’t a question if Davis was going to win a world title, but when. “When” was Valentine’s Day 2025, and it only took “The Businessman” four rounds to finish the job. It was expected by the fighter, his fans and the media, but he still enjoyed the entire process and wants some more. “I kind of expected it because I just
willingness to talk about difficulties from his past was a breath of fresh air. That process began last November when he was scheduled to face Gustavo Lemos in Norfolk’s Scope Arena. It was a homecoming event, a packed arena waiting to watch Davis and his brothers Keon and Kelvin compete, and the pressure was on. Or so you would think. ESPN’s Mark Kriegel spoke to Davis at length on fight week, and the resulting interview took interest in the fighter to new levels while showing who he was at his core. “I think we’re all biased to the subjects who reveal themselves,” said Kriegel. “And, to me, the idea that this kid was able to reveal his most vulnerable self on the eve of what was
came along with it. That meant making the story of his short stay in a mental institution during high school part of his narrative – not necessarily for his benefit, but for others. “I realize everything that God has planned for me is not about me; it’s about his people,” said Davis. “I’m just an influencer that can influence a lot of people on the platform that he put me on. So it’s my job to tell people my story so I can inspire people. And this is why I say things about my mental health. It’s not for the ones that are going on social media and saying things about it. It’s for the ones that’s not saying nothing about it; it’s for the ones that’s going through it in the darkness without their family even knowing
they’re going through it. But they hear me talk like this and it’s giving them more confidence to get through their day. You never know how a guy is feeling that day.” One of those guys was beloved trainer Charlie Ibarra, a member of the Davis camp who also worked with welterweight up-and-comer Avious Griffin. Ibarra passed away just two weeks before the Berinchyk fight. His suicide hit everyone in the camp hard.
a spell at 18 years old when his anxiety and dealing with the absence of his brother and father figure, Kelvin (who had moved out of their house), led him to self-harm and thoughts of suicide where he even held a gun to his head at one point. Counseling, family support and the brief stay in the hospital got him back on track, but still, it’s remarkable to go on to an Olympic silver medal and a professional boxing world title after such an ordeal.
Davis entered the elite lightweight ranks by dominating Berinchyk.
It was the one damper on Davis’ victory celebration, and when you realize the toll mental health has on the population, young and old, it’s remarkable that he not only made it out of that darkness but became a world titleholder. This is after going through
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