Jamaine Ortiz respects Keyshawn Davis’ skills and credited him for accepting Ortiz as the opponent for his junior welterweight debut.

“The Technician” doubts, though, that Davis’ level of competition has properly prepared the former WBO lightweight champ for their 12-round bout January 31 nearly as much as Ortiz’s top opponents have developed him for these types of fights.

Ortiz lost a very competitive bout by unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in February 2024 and gave Vasiliy Lomachenko more trouble than expected in another unanimous points defeat in October 2022.

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC), a 2021 Olympic silver medalist from Norfolk, Virginia, hasn’t encountered elite-level opponents like Lopez, The Ring’s junior welterweight champ, or Lomachenko, a retired future Hall-of-Fame fighter. Until now, that is, according to Ortiz (20-2-1, 10 KOs).

“I think it’s a big advantage, me facing that top-level competition in the professional ranks, for world titles, on the big stage, being in there with great fighters,” Ortiz told The Ring. “I feel like the fighters I’ve fought are better than Keyshawn. Teofimo, Lomachenko, they’re a lot better than him. And you see what I did with those guys, so there’s no comparison when it comes to levels.

“Not saying that Keyshawn’s not good. He’s good, but I feel like I’ve faced a lot better and tougher competition at the big stage already. So, I’m more prepared to go in there and do what I have to do to come out victorious.”

DraftKings established Davis as a slight favorite over Ortiz in the co-feature of “The Ring 6,” a DAZN Pay-Per-View card headlined by Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) and Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) in the 12-round main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Davis will fight for the first time since he came in 4.3 pounds overweight and lost his WBO 135-pound crown at the scale June 6, the day his hometown title defense against Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos was canceled.

A much more focused, surgical Davis destroyed Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk on February 14 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden to win the WBO belt he eventually vacated. Davis dropped Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs) twice with body shots on his way to a fourth-round knockout.

“I think he’s a good fighter,” Ortiz said regarding Davis. “I just don’t think his opponents have been so good. I think his quality of opponents make him look a lot better. That’s what a promoter’s job is, right? To put certain guys in front of you to make you look really good. This is not gonna be the same.”

Ortiz, 29, and Davis, 26, weren’t the same against their one common opponent, either.

Davis defeated Nahir Albright by majority decision 19 months after Ortiz beat Albright more decisively. Ortiz, of Worcester, Massachusetts, won their 10-rounder unanimously, by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 in February 2022.

Albright lost 97-93, 96-94 and 95-95 to Davis, though the result of their October 2023 bout was changed to a no-contest because Davis tested positive for marijuana, a substance banned by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation.

Ortiz knows better than to put too much emphasis on how they fared against Albright (17-2, 7 KOs, 1 NC), but he believes those outcomes are worth examining.

“I gotta rewatch the fight,” Ortiz said. “I did hear that [Davis] didn’t look too good. I did hear that Nahir wobbled him at the end of the fight, so that’s something I’ll kinda have to rewatch. But man, if you compare the performances, I’m pretty sure my performance was a lot better cuz I out-boxed Nahir Albright, where he didn’t even get to touch me.”

“The Ring 6” can be purchased for $69.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom. It is included in DAZN’s Ultimate monthly plan for subscribers ($44.99 in the U.S.; £24.99 in the UK).