U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis goes up against two-division world champion Jose Pedraza live from Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 8. The pair battles it out in the co-feature on the card headlined by Teofimo Lopez vs Jamaine Ortiz. The contest is scheduled for 10 rounds at lightweight.
Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) is confident in his victory and focused on the task at hand. Unbeaten 24-year-old native of Norfolk, Virginia is set to go through Pedraza and earn his top spot at the future events.
34-year-old Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico looks to get back into the win column. Over the course of his career, former IBF super featherweight champion and former WBO lightweight champion fought some of the best in business, including Vasyl Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis, Jose Zepeda, to name a few.
“I’m dialed in and focused,” Davis said. “I’m pushing every day, training two or three times each day. Running, sparring, strength and conditioning. The work I’m putting in is starting to show.”
“I’m not counting down the days until the fight, I’m making these days count. This fight is only the beginning of how far I can go in my career.”
“This is a big fight for me and the only thing I can focus on. I bet Pedraza is doing the same thing. Fighting a guy like him, who has won multiple world titles, has made me lock in even more.”
“I give a lot of credit to Pedraza for taking this fight. He has fought a lot of former world champions with a ton of accolades and more fights and experience than me. Pedraza has been a main event fighter and will give me an opportunity to show everyone what I’m truly capable of doing. After I beat Pedraza, I become a main event fighter.”
In the main event, Brooklyn’s former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) puts his WBO junior welterweight title on the line against fellow-American Jamaine Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs) of Worcester, Massachusetts. The world championship bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Among the prelims, George Acosta (17-1, 3 KOs) of Long Beach, California takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (18-3, 12 KOs) at lightweight. Javier Martinez (9-0-1, 3 KOs) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin meets LA’s Raul Salomon (12-2, 10 KOs) at middleweight. Abdullah Mason (11-0, 9 KOs) of Bedford, Ohio faces Benjamin Gurment (8-0-3, 5 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas at super lightweight.