Denys Berinchyk will have his WBO lightweight title up for grabs tonight in his defense against Keyshawn Davis in their 12-round main event on ESPN & ESPN+ at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City. The main card starts at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.
Results
– Welterweight prospect Keon Davis (2-0, 1 KO) knocked out Ira Johnson (3-3, 2 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled four-round bout held at a catch-weight fight at 150 lbs. The lanky 6’3″ Davis, the 23-year-old brother of Keyshawn Davis, dropped Johnson with a body shot in round two. When the action restarted, Davis connected with a left to the body followed by two chopping right hands to the head that dropped Johnson.
The referee then counted him out. The time of the stoppage was at 1:38 in round two. Keon looks more impressive in this performance than any of the three Davis brothers and much better than Keyshawn. Keon is more of a pure puncher, and he gets a lot of power on his shots. He wasn’t a great amateur, but he looks outstanding as a pro.
If Keon can stay at 147, he’s got the potential to win a world title. At 154, I doubt that he can hang with the top guys in that weight class. He’s not built like that; there are some real killers in that division. But if he stays at welterweight, that division is so weak that he can definitely capture a belt.
– Heavyweight Jared Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs) bounced back from his recent knockout loss to defeat Marios Kollias (12-4-1, 10 KOs) by an unimpressive 10-round unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92. Boxing News 24 had it 8-2 for Anderson. In the final 10 seconds of the tenth, Kollias hurt Anderson with a flurry of punches after trapping him against the ropes. It was lucky for Jared that the flurry came in the final seconds of the round rather than earlier because he looked ready to be knocked out.
– Middleweight Juan Carlos Guerra Jr (6-1-1, 2 KOs) upset favorite Nico Ali Walsh (10-2, 5 KOs), winning a six-round split decision. Guerra Jr, 29, used nonstop pressure, following Walsh around the ring, throwing big shots, mostly missing landing enough to impress the judges. The scores were 58-56, 58-56 for Guerra Jr., and 58-56 for Walsh.
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Top Rank hopes 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn (12-0, 8 KOs) will be their next mega-star. We’ve seen that this week with how the final conference played out. Davis, 25, was given King-like royalty treatment.
If he loses tonight, as he did in his disappointing Olympic performance, there will be much second-guessing about his signing. Keyshawn is a good talker, but he hasn’t shown the spark needed to be a true superstar inside the ring.
9:00 pm ET Card on ESPN & ESPN+
Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis
Xander Zayas vs. Slawa Spomer
Vito Mielnicki Jr vs. Connor Coyle
The real gem in this is lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason (16-0, 14 KOs), who should be the headliner but, surprisingly, is still fighting in the prelims. Mason’s last fight in which he was dropped a couple of times in the first round by Yohan Vasquez, may have scared Top Rank. Tonight’s fight is a step back for the 20-year-old Mason, with him fighting Manuel Jaimes, a weaker puncher than his previous opponent, Vasquez.
Preliminary card on ESPN+ at 5:15 p.m. ET
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus vs. Bryan Santiago
Abdullah Mason vs. Manuel Jaimes
Rohan Polanco vs. Jean Carlos Torres
Keon Davis vs. Ira Johnson
Jared Anderson vs. Marios Kollias
Nico Ali Walsh vs. Juan Carlos Guerra Jr.
Boxing News 24 » Tonight’s Live Results: Berinchyk vs. Davis
Last Updated on 02/14/2025
