I’m pretty excited about Denys Berinchyk-Keyshawn Davis. Davis looks like a sure thing when you watch him – he looks very, very good.
And Berinchyk, though not always pleasing on the eye, is a tough guy to look good against. He can be awkward; make a fight physical; throw off his opponent’s timing.
When Davis isn’t sharing the ring with a textbook fighter he can struggle. On paper it looks like Davis should win and take the WBO lightweight title, but if he does, I’ll be more impressed than most. Most seem to be expecting him to win, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy. World titles, typically, aren’t that easy to win.
Davis deserves to be considered one of the world’s most exciting young fighters. He went to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and has since grown as a professional. He’s a very intelligent, athletic fighter. But there are times he can seem distracted – which at 25 years old could just be his youth. In 2023 he failed a drugs test when testing positive for marijuana, which in 2025 may not be that big a deal, but it still prompted questions about his mindset, which at the highest level could prove a weakness.
Berinchyk, 36, is in a lot of respects the opposite. He comes from a golden generation of Ukrainian Olympians, but he’s one of the least talked about of that generation, so he’s always had to fight for respect, and he’s had to continue fighting for respect since winning his title in 2024. Victory over an opponent with the profile of Davis – there are so many expectations around Davis – would do so much to legitimise Berinchyk’s achievements.
If Davis is able to really dominate at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, it’d prove so much and answer the last questions I have about him. It’s that tough a fight.
Davis succeeding is also important for Top Rank. As promoters they’ve been very good – perhaps the best – at timing when one of their champions is in decline and therefore using him to propel one of their young contenders into the spotlight. But they, and Davis, need it to be a legitimate win – and not one that’s contentious.
I do expect Davis to win, but I don’t expect it to prove as easy for him as others do. I expect him to struggle to victory, and therefore to be criticised more than he ought to be. Beating Berinchyk would represent a big win.
Another of the world’s best prospects, Abdullah Mason, fights Manuel Jaimes on the undercard. Mason’s continuing to impress, off the back of excelling as an amateur and getting a good following off the back of his achievements.
We’re still learning about what his weaknesses might be, because he hasn’t yet been tested at that level. But we know he has good power, a high IQ for a fighter aged 20, and solid fundamentals. If he continues on the road he’s been on so far, and stays focused, he can prove a championship-calibre fighter. The pressure that comes with expectations like those can be difficult, but those expectations also mean that a road is plotted out for fighters like him. I don’t think Jaimes has the dimensions to trouble Mason, or to stop Mason winning impressively.
Friday night’s also important for Jared Anderson, who fights Marios Kollias more than six months after losing for the first time, to Martin Bakole. We need to see how he responds to that loss. Is he hungry? Is he determined? Is he angry? And is he showing that anger? Or is he lacklustre, and hesitant? There have long been question marks around his mentality.
I hope I’m wrong, because I’d like to see him succeed, but I’ve been among those questioning it, and I don’t expect that defeat to have helped.
The road back shouldn’t be rushed. He’s still young. But he needs to win impressively – and he needs to start being consistent. I expect him to earn a stoppage, but a stoppage can still be unimpressive – I want to see him show the dimensions he needs to if he’s going to reach the level we hope.