Father Knows Boxing Is Tests

Kyrone Davis tried several sports as a youth before taking his father’s advice and settling on pugilism. 

“I was into everything: Soccer, basketball, baseball – but boxing was something my Dad, Darone, got me into when I was 8. By the age of 13, I was beginning to focus on boxing. I liked the sport, the sparring and the biggest thing is that you can’t blame anybody else,” said Davis, who was born in New Jersey before moving to Delaware at age 12.

“But I didn’t like the training aspect of it. So, my Dad instilled in me how to train, testing my will. At one point, he was having me run across the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Another time he dropped me off in the woods. I would run to the gym to spar, and then he would have me run again afterwards. Sometimes I’d cry, but nothing would break me.”

Davis accrued an amateur record of 91-9 from 2005 through 2013, becoming a three-time National Champion and a 2016 Olympic alternate. Inspired by a pastor’s church sermon, Davis' ring artistry and as a budding singer and rapper often imitated his life.

“There’s a lot of fights I should have won, so I took a lot of early losses, learning and improving as I went along. At church one day a pastor was talking about shutting down in life,” said Davis.

“He talked about how that gets in the way of achieving your destiny. I started making shirts with those words on them, people started calling me ‘Mr. Shut It Down,’ so now, it’s ‘Ky Shut It Down,’ which is my artist name as well."

A 19-year-old Davis’ professional debut was a 56-second TKO of Joshua Warf in February 2014, representing that year’s first of three knockouts among five victories ending with a 96-second stoppage of Rick Morais in October. 

Davis went 5-0 (1 KO) to raise his record to 10-0 (4 KOs) in 2015 while competing between 158 and 161 pounds starting and ending with six-round unanimous decisions over Jonathan Garcia in January and Andrew Hernandez in December.

Davis’ confidence was boosted thanks to appearances in the separate training camps of champions Adrian Broner and southpaw Demetrius Andrade. 

“My first camp that I went to when I first turned pro Demetrius Andrade’s. I also sparred with Adrian Broner before his fight with Shawn Porter,” said Davis. 

“I was doing well both times. So I was getting to a level where my mentality, discipline and skill set were coming into alignment in line with my confidence, but you have to train to win.”

Down But Not Out

Davis rose from a fourth-round knockdown in April 2016 before losing his initial eight-round bout by unanimous decision to hammer-fisted Dominican fighter Junior Castillo (9-0, 9 KOs coming in).

But Davis rebounded with his next three bouts to improve to 13-1 (5 KOs), starting that November with a third-round TKO of Carlos Gabriel Ozan, which halted for the first time a man who entered at 12-1 (four KOs).

Davis’ run included consecutive wins in 2018, the former by split-decision in March over previously undefeated Mark Anthony Hernandez (9-0, 2 KOs entering) in his first 10-rounder at a career-low 153 ¾ pounds, and the latter by eight-round unanimous decision over Jaime Barboza in December. 

“Shut it Down” continued to excel in training camps with past and current champions Andrade, Broner, Gennadiy Golovkin, Erislandy Lara and Julian Williams as well as title challengers Erickson Lubin and Jesse Hart, but he struggled with weight before his only fight of 2018, a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Patrick Day in March. 

“Four or five weeks out, I was 192 pounds. I felt it in my body, and my trainer, Stephen Edwards, was telling me the whole time that I couldn’t do this to myself. I got down to 154 in a month. If you watch the fight, you’ll notice I was really getting off. But as the fight went on, I started to fade. My body couldn’t take the rapid weight loss. Patrick Day...deserved to win that fight,” said Davis.

“But after that fight, I didn’t know whether or not I would get back into the ring again. I was in a bad mental state. I didn’t understand where I was. I had to heal a lot of self-doubt. I took things for granted, but I learned a lot from that fight. I’ve adjusted my training and mentality, I know what I’m fighting for. I’m ready to embrace who I am as a fighter, I’m more mature and my approach has changed.”

Davis won once each in 2019 and 2020 to improve to 15-2 (six KOs) comprising a six-round unanimous decision over Alexis Gaytan in August of the former, and a fourth-round TKO of Antonio Todd in January of the latter. 

It was during winter of 2020 that Davis accepted a challenge to face former two-time WBC world super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell in February 2021.

“I remember my father called about taking the fight, and we spoke briefly, and he told me let’s sleep on it,”  said Davis. “I remember telling him, ‘No, let’s take it.’ I remember my dad was confident in my ability, and I remember talking to Steve and he thought I could beat Dirrell, too.”

Davis battled to a disputed draw despite facing “The Dog” at a personal career-high 167 ½ pounds.

“People doubted me before the fight telling me that I was going to get knocked out, but people were coming up to me afterwards and saying that they thought I won the fight. I certainly thought that I won the fight,” said Davis.

“I was using my jab well, boxing and I felt like Anthony Dirrell really didn’t understand what I was doing. Dirrell couldn’t just come running in because every shot that he threw, I had a counter for it. This has brought me to another level, mentally, and I’m ready to move forward to my next fight.”

Davis returned to the win column on September 5, 2021, winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Martez McGregor at The Armory in Minneapolis. Weeks later, he received a call to face undefeated, two-time WBC world super middleweight champion David Benavidez on Saturday, November 13, at Footprint Center in Benavidez’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona.

Davis readily accepted in spite of the latest notice. He gave a valiant effort, warring with heavy favorite Benavidez until ultimately succumbing in the seventh round when Davis’ corner threw in the towel. 

“I’m a little disappointed,” Davis said. “I wish I could have pulled out the victory. I don’t like losing. I came in on two weeks’ notice. Shame on (Jose) Uzcategui for being on steroids. I had to come in on short notice but I fought like a warrior. I’m living my dream. I love coming out here and putting on a great show. Fighting is in my blood. I was raised like this.”

On January 7, 2023, Davis bounced back with an eight-round unanimous decision over Cristian Rios at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Scorecards read 80-72, 80-72, 79-73. He followed that up with an eight-round unanimous decision over Cruse Stewart in December 2023.

Springing A Surprise

On June 15, 2024, Davis faced unbeaten top middleweight contender Elijah Garcia in the main event of a PBC on Prime Video prelims from MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In what was a crossroads bout, Davis (19-3-1, 6 KOs) turned in the finest performance of his career, overcoming a late rally to hand Garcia his first defeat via 10-round split decision.  

Judge Max De Luca scored the contest 97-93, while Eric Cheek had it 98-92, both for Davis, with judge John McKaie seeing it 97-93 for Garcia. 

Davis jumped out to an early lead, working behind the jab and using movement to offset Garcia’s attack. Garcia (16-1, 13 KOs) continued to apply pressure, oftentimes pinning Davis on the ropes and landing to the body.

The fight grew increasingly closer as the rounds progressed, yet Davis remained composed, countering well off the ropes. Garcia landed several head-snapping shots in rounds nine and 10, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Davis’ lead.