U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (8-0, 6 KOs) faced his stiffest challenge to date, and he passed with flying colors.
The 24-year-old standout defeated former world title challenger Anthony Yigit (26-3-1, 10 KOs) via TKO in the ninth round of their scheduled 10-rounder.
Davis took the center of the ring at the opening bell and began walking down Yigit, who was clearly uncomfortable with the pressure being applied. By the third and fourth rounds, Davis exuded confidence, landing single shots to the body before easily evading return fire and often doubling and tripling punches with a single hand in round five.
In the seventh round, Yigit began talking trash in a desperate attempt to get Davis to abandon his game plan, but it was to no avail as the native of Norfolk, Virginia, began punishing Yigit with combos. The continued offense from Davis forced referee Benjy Esteves Jr. to end the fight at :21 of the ninth.
Davis said, “It was fun. We were both talking trash. He kind of brought that anger out of me today, but I had to find a way to control it, and we got the victory.
“I really just asked ‘BoMac’ what to do. He told me to start moving to my left more, to use more feints, and to let him come to me so that the knockout can come.”
Stevenson vs Yoshion results
Heavyweights: Polish power prevailed tonight as Damian Knyba (11-0, 7 KOs) scored an eighth-round TKO over Curtis Harper (14-9, 9 KOs).
In the opening round, Harper was deducted a point for hitting Knyba while referee Harvey Dock called for a break. Nevertheless, the 6-foot-7, 258-pound heavyweight punished Harper for the rest of the fight. Time of stoppage: 2:38.
Middleweights: Former amateur standout Troy Isley (9-0, 4 KOs) defeated Roy Barringer (9-4, 6 KOs) via eight-round unanimous decision.
Isley began the fight aggressively, but Barringer stood his ground in the center of the ring and landed his own share of power shots. But, by the third round, Isley began to impose his will with straight right hands and counter shots. Scores: 79-73 and 80-72 2x.
Featherweights: Brooklyn’s Bruce “ShuShu” Carrington (7-0, 4 KOs) tallied an impressive second-round TKO win over Brandon Chambers (9-1-1, 5 KOs).
Carrington finished the fight by pushing Chambers to the corner with punches through and around his guard, forcing him down to one knee. This was second time that Carrington had beaten an undefeated fighter. Time of stoppage: 2:46.
Junior Welterweights: Kelvin Davis (8-0, 5 KOs), the older brother of Keyshawn, scored a lopsided six-round unanimous decision win against Nelson Morales (3-5). Scores: 60-54 2x and 59-55.
Welterweights: Antoine Cobb (1-0-3, 1 KO) and Jaylan Phillips (1-2-3, 1 KO) fought to a majority draw following four rounds of action, the third straight draw for these two combatants. Scores: 40-36 Cobb and 38-38 2x.
