Keyshawn Davis continued his rise up the rankings with a victory on the George Kambosos vs Maxi Hughes undercard, live on ESPN.
Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) passed the stiffest test of his career in beating Belgian contender Francesco Patera (28-4, 10 KOs) via ten-round unanimous decision.
After the action, the announcer read out scores of 100-89 twice and 99-90.
The 24-year-old native of Norfolk, Virginia, took his time to analyze Patera, feinting and cutting the ring before landing short, crisp combos when he had Patera on the ropes.
In rounds five and six, Davis decreased his punching output, and Patera attempted to claw his way into the fight.
In round eight, he dropped Patera with a sharp right hand. Davis remained calm and outboxed Patera into the final rounds.
Davis said, “I give myself a C+ or B-. But like I said, we got the win, and that’s all that matters.
“I can’t really be too hard on myself if I don’t stop these guys because they have way more experience than me. But, at the end of the day, I am beating them unanimously in every round.
“I just got to take my hat off for just doing the little things like that, sticking to my game plan, listening to my coaching, and just having fun in there.”
