Despite turning pro, Keyshawn Davis will compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
K Davis Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
On Monday, Davis and two other American boxers were given spots in the Tokyo Olympics, allowing Davis to make an unexpected return to USA Boxing five months after the highly rated lightweight turned professional amid conflict with the national governing organisation.
22-year-old Davis is one of the favourites in the 63-kilogram class in Tokyo after winning his first three professional fights in the past three and a half months.
The United States will be sending five men to Tokyo after adding Davis, featherweight Duke Ragan, and middleweight Troy Isley at the end of the chaotic Olympic qualification process brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Davis is the leading male contender for a gold medal on the squad.
Even though they only had two men and four women qualify at first, the United States now has nine fighters headed to Tokyo for the Olympics.
Although Davis has yet to fully comprehend what has transpired, he is happy to once again be wearing a USA Boxing uniform as the team completes its final training camp in a deserted department shop in Colorado Springs.
“I did not Expect this at all when I became pro,” Davis said to The Associated Press.
Not that I have anything against amateurs, but I wasn’t eager to go back there. I felt good about my choice. I enjoyed the fight very much.
I’d be my own boss, get to go wherever I want, and get paid well for it. But when the Olympic Games came calling again, returning was an easy decision.
Due to rule amendments implemented prior to the Rio de Janeiro Games, professional prizefighters are now eligible to compete in the Olympic field, joining amateurs like Davis, Ragan, and Isley in Tokyo.
Pros travelling to Tokyo are virtually solely young talents like Davis, who got a head start on their professional careers while still staying prepared for Olympic competition, putting to rest initial concerns about an infusion of seasoned veterans fighting amateurs.
Ragan is Undefeated as a Professional after just one Year, whereas Isley has only fought once.
After the postponement of the Americas qualifying event in Buenos Aires, neither competitor was initially chosen to compete in Tokyo.
The epidemic and the upheaval at the top ranks of amateur boxing have made Olympic qualification a recognition of past achievements alone.
Among the top-ranked boxers from the Americas who didn’t make the cut for the initial continental allotment, Davis, Ragan, and Isley were given berths.
When the epidemic postponed the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to 2021, Davis initially planned to continue pursuing his childhood goal.
However, Davis had disagreements with his national team coaches regarding his commitment to attend training camps for the postponed Olympic qualifiers.
Davis explained that he had to miss the workouts because he needed to be with his sick mother. Davis joked that he received the letter from USA Boxing announcing his dismissal from the squad “on Christmas Eve.”
USA Boxing’s head coach Billy Walsh said he and Davis made up in 2020.
“The team is back Together again,” Walsh Proclaimed.
Two years ago, when we were planning to be among the best teams at the Olympic Games, I imagined that I would have a team like this one.
Davis has returned and is full of energy. He has always been quite helpful to the group. He has been a tremendous morale booster for the group.
Last month, just days before his fight on the undercard of Canelo lvarez’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders in Texas, Davis learnt that he could be able to fight in Tokyo. His jaw dropped when he got a call from USA Boxing high performance director Matt Johnson and Walsh.
For the wrong reasons, I was looking forward to that professional fight, Davis admitted. It was the Olympics that really sparked my interest.
Davis excitedly agreed to hold out until his fourth professional fight, which was set to take place on June 19 as the primary support for lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s match versus George Kambosos Jr.
