Keyshawn Davis defeats Miguel Madueno in rough outing in Newark, remains unbeaten

NEWARK, N.J. — It’s a sign of good matchmaking when the fans learn something new about an upcoming fighter each time out. On this night, the world learned that Keyshawn Davis isn’t going to be flustered by a little roughhousing.

The 25-year-old lightweight from Norfolk, Va. remained composed throughout, defeating the tough-as-nails Miguel Madueno by unanimous decision on Saturday at Prudential Center. All three judges scored the fight 99-91, elevating Davis to 11-0 (7 knockouts) as a professional.

Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs) of Orange, Calif. loses his third fight, but, as in previous defeats, he hears the final bell. It was a rough fight in which both boxers and the referee got hit, both boxers were tackled, both were lifted. In the end, they hugged, a mutual respect forged after such a physical affair.

“We were both tough in there, and neither of our wills got broke,” said Davis, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist.

“He’s a rough type of a guy, a real physical type of guy. We were doing a lot of rough tactics in there, just trying to get under each other’s skin.”

Photo by Carlo Estonactoc

Davis was forced to dig deeper than he had in any of his previous outings, as the heavy-handed Madueno pressed forward for all ten rounds without relent. Davis had offered hints of being able to stop him, particularly in the fourth round, when a pair of right hand counters rocked Madueno, leading to a Davis onslaught that pressed the advantage. That busy round necessitated a round off for Davis in the fifth, as he used his defense to blunt Madueno’s offense.

Davis turned the offense machine back on in the sixth, landing a series of right hands to open the round. Davis appeared to hurt Madueno near the bell, after which Madueno got in his face. Davis responded by shoving Madueno’s face and Madueno fired his own slap back, hitting the referee in the face.

No one sustained any meaningful injuries in that spat, and the fight took on the feeling of a street fight from there. A heated Madueno lifted Davis off the canvas in the seventh round, and gave up on any pretext of boxing as we walked forward, one foot after the other, trying to land a single punch that could turn the fight around. He was most effective with his right hook to the body, which, aside from being a scoring blow, was also serving to cut off Davis’ movement to the left.

Davis remained in counterpunching mode, content with allow Madueno to walk into his 1-2 combinations until the final bell.

Madueno, 25, has now lost two of his last three bouts, though his previous fight in February was a career-best win, a split decision over Justin Pauldo.

Davis is rated no. 3 by the WBC, WBO and IBF at 135 pounds.

“I know [WBO lightweight titleholder] Denys Berinchyk mentioned my name. I’m definitely targeting Berinchyk,” said Davis, when asked of his future plans.