‘Unprofessional’: Boxer Keyshawn Davis Knocks Out Opponent Days After Racially Charged Bananas Gesture He Now Claims Was from Teofimo Lopez
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After being taunted by racists, boxer Keyshawn Davis won his first championship during Friday’s WBO lightweight championship at Madison Square Garden, as the American prospect defeated previously unbeaten Ukrainian Denys Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs).
Davis knocked out Berinchyk with a mean body shot in round 4 in front of a sold-out crowd on Feb. 14 days after the undefeated lightweight contender with a record of 13-0 (9 KOs) claimed he received a racist package at his hotel room from Berinchyk’s team.
The package contained bananas and watermelon, items that historically figured as racist tropes about Black Americans.
The racially charged incident escalated during the prefight press conference on Feb. 12 when Davis confronted the issue directly, stating, “I want to address the fact that this guy came to America to give me bananas and watermelon with a note on it.
He continued, “It’s unprofessional, and I feel like it’s racist — and you just made this fight a little more personal.”
Davis later detailed the delivery to the media, “Housekeeping showed up at my room and said, ‘Here’s something for you.’ I wasn’t there, but my friend was there, and he asked what it was. The guy kept insisting on bringing it in. So my friend said, ‘F—k it, bring it in.’”
“This guy came to America to give me bananas and watermelon with a note on it. I took that as racist.”
The #BerinchykKeyshawn fight just became personal
(via @trboxing)
pic.twitter.com/g2y68Y4w61— Uncrowned (@uncrownedcombat) February 12, 2025
The package included a note reading “Here’s a snack for all those hight jumps. Stay energized businesswom..”
Davis pointed to specific details that raised his suspicions, “I could tell when I was reading it, it was nobody from America that wrote that because we know how to speak proper English. Not only that, at the end of the message, it said, ‘Businesswomen.’ He [Berinchyk] called me a businesswoman yesterday.”
Berinchyk, speaking through his translator, firmly denied any involvement, stating he neither speaks nor writes in English and suggesting that “some people with bad intentions looking for some hype” were responsible for the incident.
The confrontation intensified when Davis rose from his seat to stand directly in front of Berinchyk, declaring, “Bro, you’re not tougher than me. You can talk about all of that bare-knuckle stuff — I don’t care about none of that.”
“I don’t care about your experience, amateur experience,” Davis continued. “I don’t care about your [Olympic] silver medal. I don’t care about your watch, your belt, or none of that. I’m going to f—k you up Friday.”
The incident sparked immediate reaction across social media platforms.
“Oh you shouldn’t feel like it’s racist! It’s definitely racist what he did! You make sure he leaves those belts in this country,” one user posted.
“Whoop him into a smoothie,” another commented, while many pointed out that Davis cut off his dreadlocks before the match.
He later acknowledged to the media that the package came from an unknown source and remained convinced of his opponent’s involvement.
“I just wanted to show to the media that he’s a racist. He just made this fight a little more personal,” Davis stated, adding, “I feel like his style is going to play right into mine. It’s going to be an easy fight, a first-round knockout. He’s just so small. You seen the size difference up there. He keeps talking about me making weight as if my making weight was ever a problem. He sees himself that I’m big. He’s got some worry in him, and that’s why he brought those bananas and watermelons to my room.”
Keyshawn explains how he got the box of watermelon & bananas. Says Berenchyk disrespected the culture and he has to pay pic.twitter.com/QooaPXxmM3
— Naji (@NajiChill) February 12, 2025
The situation even drew attention from other boxing figures, with Teofimo Lopez reportedly making light of the incident on social media on Feb. 13.
Lopez, who has a history of making racist statements about other boxers, shared a video of Davis confronting Berinchyk during their showdown, with Lopez eating a banana and laughing with a “Make Boxing Great Again” hat on his head in his clip.
MAKE BOXING GREAT AGAIN
@trboxing @WorldBoxingOrg pic.twitter.com/51DnrtN8g9
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) February 12, 2025
Many took this as his form of admission considering a similar incident a few months ago at the New York Hall of Fame Induction in Sept. 2024.
While there, he was stopped by Broadway Joel’s YouTube show and asked to pick an opponent between Gervonta Davis and Terence Crawford. Lopez replied, “Whichever monkey wants to get the banana! They say they are gorillas. I’m a lion. I eat them.”
When asked to clear up his statement when he returned to the show in Jan. 2025, Lopez apologized while smiling, stating, “What do you want me to do? I’m trying to get fights.”
After Lopez’s video went viral that same day, Keyshawn Davis responded in a video from his Instagram Live, accusing Lopez of sending the racist package to spark a beef that would lead to a match in the ring.
“I heard Teo did it. Teo you doing everything to make yourself relevant,” said Keyshawn, hinting that Lopez owes money to the IRS. “It’s the taxes. He got taxes problems.”
He claimed he will not diminish his brand by fighting with someone with such views, “You’re a racist, bro. I’m not helping you out.”
“So when brodie made that little video on Twitter, it was smart promotion. He promoted himself very well,” Keyshawn continued. “I hope he get a fight off that. I don’t want to fight him. He racist.”
Top Rank, the event’s promotional company, issued a strong statement, “Top Rank is appalled and disgusted by the actions of individual(s) that delivered the package to Keyshawn Davis. These actions are contrary to the foundation of Top Rank.”
Top Rank added, “There is no place for this in sports or society. Keyshawn has our full support.”
The controversy added another layer of tension to an already significant bout for Davis, who is widely regarded as one of American boxing’s top prospects.
The Virginia native was coming off an impressive second-round knockout victory over Gustavo Lemos in Norfolk last November, while Berinchyk claimed the vacant WBO title with a split-decision victory over Emanuel Navarrete in May.
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