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Denys Berinchyk: I Don't Have Any Time To Waste, I Want All The Best At Lightweight
NEWS
Jake Donovan
Jake Donovan
RingMagazine.com
Denys Berinchyk: I Don't Have Any Time To Waste, I Want All The Best At Lightweight
Denys Berinchyk is well aware that there is a limited amount of time to carry out his career goals.

The Ring’s No. 6 lightweight longs to fully unify the division. His hope is to accomplish that within the next two years, but it begins with successfully defending his WBO title this weekend. Ukraine’s Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) faces Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs; 1 No Contest) this Friday on ESPN from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.

“We will beat Keyshawn and keep what we’ve earned,” Berinchyk vowed to The Ring. “After this win, the goal becomes to get unification bouts and collect even more belts. I welcome those challenges. I am 36 years old. I don’t have any time to waste, so I want all the best at lightweight. That’s why we started with Keyshawn for our first defense.”

Berinchyk won the WBO lightweight title in a twelve-round, split decision win over Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) last May 18 in San Diego, California. A failed effort to land a challenger left him empty handed for a planned December title defense in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In fact, Davis—The Ring’s No. 7 lightweight—was the only fighter to answer the call, which led to this assignment and Berinchyk’s New York City debut.

The bout marks the first of three consecutive weekends where a major lightweight belt is at stake. Three-division titlist Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 lightweight, defends his WBC belt against Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) on Feb. 22 in Riyadh.

One week later, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 lightweight and No. 8 pound-for-pound fighter, puts his WBA belt at stake against Lamont Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs), the WBA 130-pound titlist who moves up in weight. Their bout takes place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Berinchyk has by far the toughest challenge out of the three but is fine with that.

“I expect Shakur and Tank to both win, easy fights for both of them,” stated Berinchyk. “Shakur already showed that he doesn’t want to fight me. So that leaves me to hope that Tank Davis will want to fight me, as long as he doesn’t move up or go anywhere.

“My plan is to unify all the titles. I hope to do that in the next two to three years, and then that will be all. But I’m not going anywhere yet. I am here right now to beat Keyshawn Davis.”

Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

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