Frank Martin Details Keyshawn Davis’s Weaknesses Against “Tricky, Springy” Fighters And Calls Out Top Rank’s Protective Stance

Frank Martin says he wants to fight Keyshawn Davis this year, and that he will “f***” him up.’ He states that Davis has a “big mouth” and he wants to shut him up by beating him. Martin

‘The Ghost’ Martin (18-1, 12 KOs) hasn’t fought since being knocked out in the eighth round by WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis last year in June. He got a nice payday for that fight, and he could get another one by fighting Keyshawn.

“He ducked that action. He actually made himself look bad,” said Frank Martin to Fight Hub TV about Keyshawn Davis coming in overweight, causing his title defense against Edwin De Los Santos to be canceled. “I had De Los Santos pulling that fight out. I had him winning that fight.

Martin’s thoughts mirror those of many boxing fans, who feel that Keyshawn got cold feet at the last moment and chose not to go through with the De Los Santos fight. Did Davis look at video clips of some of Edwin’s fights and get scared off at the last minute, or was it always his intention to miss weight, hoping that he could fight with a big size advantage, or that the match would be cancelled?

Martin Exposes Davis

“Guys that are tricky and springy, Keyshawn has problems against those guys. The flat-footed, strong fighters that come forward, he does good against them. But Los Santos is springy, and can punch. So, I had De Los Santos winning that fight.”

It’s surprising that Keyshawn ever agreed to fight De Los Santos in the first place because he was the complete opposite of everybody that he’d fought as a pro. Top Rank put Keyshawn in a sink-or-swim-level fight, and he failed to make weight. What does that tell you?

“That’s ridiculous. We know weight cut is hard, but four or five pounds, you [Keyshawn] didn’t even try to get that weight off. That fight can happen. It can happen this year. I’m down to take that fight,” said Martin about Davis.

Even with a giant weight advantage, Keyshawn likely would have lost to De Los Santos. But if he had drained down to 135 like he was supposed to, the job would have been a lot easier for Edwin to knock him out like he’d done to Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela.

Keyshawn’s Managerial Shield

“I’m going to f*** him up. I’m going to hurt him. Some of the guys he fought they’re good fighters, but Top Rank does a good job of putting their guys in with fighters that they’re going to look good against,” said Martin about Davis. “That’s why I felt De Los Santos was a little twist of the styles that he’s been fighting because he’s an explosive, strong fighter.”

It makes sense for Keyshawn to have bailed out of the De Los Santos fight because he likely would have lost. Top Rank had fed Davis with tomato cans since he’d turned pro in 2021, and the one good fighter they matched him against, Nahir Albright, came close to beating him. Many fans view Keyshawn’s decision to come in 4.3 pounds over the limit as intentional, a way of getting out of the fight to save his marketability. A knockout loss to De Los Santos would have hurt Davis’s ability to keep making nice paydays against soft opposition.

“When he [Keyshawn] fought Pedraza, he was a good fighter, but he was on his way out, though. When he fought for his belt, no disrespect to the guy he was fighting [Denys Berinchyk], but that was easy work,” said Martin about Keyshawn capturing his WBO lightweight title against 36-year-old Denys Berinchyk last February.

Top Rank chose to match Keyshawn against Jose Pedraza, Gustavo Lemos, and Denys Berinchyk, following his near-loss to Nahir Albright in 2023. They weren’t taking any chances with their investment in Keyshawn by putting him in with anyone good. Andy Cruz had been calling him out, but they didn’t pull the trigger on that fight for obvious reasons. Keyshawn showed zero interest in fighting the talented Cuban Cruz.

Davis’ Olympic Loss

“You saw how he lost against Andy Cruz in the Olympics. A style like that. Springy, angles, he has problems with it,” said Martin.

It wasn’t the first time that Keyshawn lost to Cuba’s Andy Cruz in the 2020 Olympics. He’d lost to Cruz three times before that fight. That’s why he seemed to quit mentally after the first round and concede the gold medal to Cruz because he couldn’t lay a glove on him. In the third round, Keyshawn ran from Andy the entire time, which was pathetic. He didn’t even try to win.