The smile on Keyshawn Davis’ face following his knockout win over Denys Berinchyk was bright enough to light up a dark room. His team was equally excited. But while Terence Crawford, Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, and Shakur Stevenson were incredibly happy, no one was in a better mood than Andy Cruz.
“I’m so proud of my son,” wrote Cruz on his social media account. “In fact, I knew he was going to win.”
Cruz has a love/hate relationship with Davis. On one end, their rivalry dictates that there’s a certain amount of animosity aimed at one another. On the other end, acrimony usually comes from defeat but since Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) came out on the winning end the four times they met in the amateurs, Cruz doesn't really have a problem with him.
Ultimately, thanks to Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) turning pro a bit earlier, he’s had a healthy head start. A matchup under the bright lights has always made sense, but Cruz believed it only made sense if Davis had something that he wanted.
Now he does.
The Ring’s No. 7 ranked lightweight has won practically every piece of hardware in the amateurs, including two Olympic gold medals. What he doesn’t have, however, is now residing on the waist of Davis.
The 29-year-old has consistently shown patience in the ring but now, he’ll have to show that composure outside of it. Currently, he’s outside of the top 10 in the WBO rankings. Meaning, he still has work to do before he pops on Davis’ radar. When he inevitably does, nevertheless, he’s confident that their amateur history will repeat itself.
“At the end of the day, you know that it will be your turn to give me that belt sooner rather than later. So run while you can son.”