Keyshawn Davis became a world champion Friday night, knocking out Denys Berinchyk to capture the WBO lightweight title at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In a dominant performance, Davis dropped Berinchyk twice and ended the fight with a vicious left hook to the body that crumpled the champion midway through Round 4. Berinchyk grimaced in pain as he got to one knee and didn’t beat the count. The knockout came at the 1:45 mark.
The previously unbeaten Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs) also went down on a body shot early in the third round.
Davis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) won the belt in his 14th professional bout, tied with Oscar De La Hoya for the third-fewest fights needed to win a lightweight world title. Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jimmy Britt each achieved the feat in 12 fights.
A silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Davis closed as a -600 favorite at ESPN BET, the biggest favorite of any lightweight title challenger since 2018, when Lomachenko was a -1400 favorite against Jorge Linares, according to ESPN Research.
Berinchyk was making the first defense of the title he won by upsetting Emanuel Navarrete in May.