Keyshawn Davis continued his rise towards a maiden world title shot, as he took a second round stoppage over tough Argentine Gustavo Lemos at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia on Friday.
Lemos weighed in at over six pounds over the lightweight limit, and was even heavier on fight night, but that didn’t matter, as Davis secured a ruthless victory.
Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) had previously made gradual steps into world level and 2024 had seen him take an impressive sixth round stoppage win against Jose Pedraza and a wide points win over Miguel Madueno in July.
Lemos (29-2, 19 KOs) was expected to give the 25-year-old rounds, having only suffered defeat in his most recent outing, giving Richardson Hitchins a very good argument, eventually going down via close decision.
The visitor attempted to utilise that extra weight by trying to rain blows on ‘The Businessman’ in the opening round, but Davis used speed and accuracy to nullify him.
The home favourite then cut loose in the second, landing a left hook for a flash knockdown, and on the resumption, Lemos was down again, a left hook again doing the damage.
The writing was on the wall, and Davis promptly closed the show, landing with combinations, and then a sharp right hand to the head that deposited the 28-year-old to the canvas for a third time, and the contest was over.
Victory for Davis maintains his lofty position in three of the four governing bodies and the Norfolk native called out both WBO champion, Denys Berinchyk and WBA titlist, Gervonta Davis.
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“I honestly thought Lemos was going to put up a stronger challenge than Berinchyk,” he told ESPN post-fight.
“But I knocked him out in the second round.
“So, we’ll see what Berinchyk will put up.
“But next year, hey Norfolk, you’re going to have a world champion next year, how about that?
“Hey Gervonta, knock, knock.”
Mason survives scare against Vasquez
The highly-touted Abdullah Mason survived a real scare before halting Yohan Vasquez in the second round in a thriller at lightweight.
Mason (16-0, 14 KOs) was down twice in the first round, in between scoring a knockdown of his own, and he rallied to seal the win in the second, landing with a flurry of hard combinations ending in a body shot that left Vasquez (26-6, 21 KOs) unable to beat the count.
WHAT IS GOING ON!
Both fighters have been dropped in the first round. pic.twitter.com/dacnwIcOHr
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 9, 2024
Aleem returns to winning ways
Ra’eese Aleem (21-1, 12 KOs) rebounded from a first professional defeat, dropping Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo (12-3-1, 10 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled ten at featherweight, before winning all available sessions on all three scorecards.
Isley sees off Howard
Troy Isley (14-0, 5 KOs) was also a points winner in the other ten rounder, taking a win on the scorecards at middleweight against Tyler Howard (20-2, 11 KOs).
Two scores of 9-91 and a third at 98-92 secured victory for the home fighter.
Remaining Undercard
At middleweight, Austin Deanda (16-0, 10 KOs) took a points win against DeAundre Pettus (12-3, 7 KOs), winning by scores of 78-74 and 77-75×2.
Kelvin Davis (14-0, 7 KOs) was another points winner, taking a knockdown in the dying seconds against Yeis Gabriel Solano (15-4, KO10) before securing the victory by scores of 80-71 and 79-72×2 at welterweight.
The only six rounder came at super featherweight, where Robert Meriwether III (8-0, 3 KOs) outscored Eric Howard (6-3, 1 KO), and the sole four round contest was at super welterweight, and debutant Keon Davis (1-0) took victory on the cards against Jalen Moore (1-2, 1 KO).
