Keyshawn Davis says he will beat up Richardson Hitchins with the whole world watching. Hitchins promises Davis will meet a “different Beast” from the first bell. If their welterweight fight lands on the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua card in Cardiff, Davis will have a huge audience for a test he cannot win with trash talk.
Their fight is still in talks and has no confirmed place on the December 11 card. Davis posted Friday, “Africa I’m going to beat yo ass with the entire world watching. I can’t wait.” Hitchins replied minutes later: “You gone Realize From the first bell Im a different Beast !”
Davis passed on a lucrative mandatory fight with WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney, a decision that drew criticism. Fighting Hitchins at 147 pounds would give him another difficult opponent, though without Haney’s title at stake. A convincing win would make the Haney decision easier to defend. A flat performance would bring the questions straight back.
There is history behind the matchup, too. Davis won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and received a major push as a professional. Hitchins represented Haiti at the Rio Olympics and built his name on smaller shows. Now they could meet on a stadium card where neither has to carry the promotion alone.
Keyshawn needs a better plan than trying to win a neat boxing match from the outside. Gustavo Lemos troubled Hitchins by pressing him to the ropes and making the exchanges rough. Davis has sharper skills than Lemos, but he must use them to get past Hitchins’ jab and work before Hitchins can tie him up. At 147, he cannot assume he will push Hitchins around as he did smaller opponents earlier in his career.
Hitchins has already fought at welterweight, shutting out Ricardo Salas in July. He will gladly slow the fight, score at range, and make Davis start over whenever he closes in. Davis has to stay patient enough to cut off the ring, then aggressive enough to do something once he gets there.
That is what makes the Cardiff possibility appealing and slightly dangerous for the show. The posts promise a beating. The styles could produce twelve rounds of Davis chasing while Hitchins refuses to give him the fight he wants. One of them will have to take control before the crowd starts looking toward the heavyweight main event.
If this fight lands in Cardiff, it deserves the chief support slot beneath Fury and Joshua. Davis and Hitchins are in their primes, and the result would tell us something about both men at welterweight. The worry is that their furious posts promise a brawl their styles may never produce. Davis has to force the issue, or Hitchins will be content to box his way through twelve rounds while the stadium waits for the heavyweights.