Davis set for big-time fight

Kelvin Davis believes that everyone is blessed with a unique talent.

After enduring years of being picked on by older boys and even young men, Davis found out what his special gift was.

Davis, then only 9 years old, finally took his older brother Kelly's advice one day and began to fight back. The results were immediate. Davis said he knocked out a young man twice his own age with a single punch.

A veteran of more than 200 street fights, the 1996 Sparks High School graduate has parlayed his gift into a professional boxing career that finds him one victory away from securing a world cruiserweight title fight.

The 24-year-old Davis, who already holds the IBA and USBA cruiserweight titles, gets a shot to add another belt to his collection when he faces O'Neil Bell on May 23 at Lucky Star Casino in Oklahoma City.

The fight, which will be televised on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, will be an IBF eliminator, with the winner walking off with the IBA, USBA and NABF belts, in addition to being ranked No. 1 by the IBF. The ranking guarantees a world title shot with IBF kingpin James "Lights Out" Toney, who took the belt from Vassiliy Jirov in a Fight of the Year candidate on April 26.

Davis, who sports a record of 19-1-1, with 16 knockouts, is currently in the process of putting the finishing touches on his training at the Nevada Wolf Pack Boxing Gym.

"It's time to come back home (to Reno)," said Davis, who has been living in Las Vegas for the last four years. "This is my hometown. I get pumped up training here. People know who I am and they appreciate what I'm doing."

Davis, appropriately nicknamed "Konkrete," is an imposing specimen. While standing only 5-foot-8, he is an incredibly muscular 190 pounds, and has fought as high as 217 pounds. In addition to his physique, he is easily distinguishable by his facial tattoo, which resembles a lightning bolt on the right side of his face. The body art even drew the attention of a certain Mike Tyson, who created a stir in the boxing community when he received a tattoo on his face just prior to his February fight with Clifford Aetienne.

"I used to see Tyson looking at my tattoo," said Davis, who was befriended by the former heavyweight champion in Las Vegas. "I knew he liked it. It was kind of a shocker (when Tyson received his). He took my tattoo. If I inspire him like he inspired me -- it feels good to follow in his footsteps. He took me under his wing."

Ever since he turned pro, Davis has drawn comparisons to Tyson for a number of reasons: his stature, the way he dresses in black trunks and black shoes with no socks, and most of all because of his incredible punching power.

But one comparison with Tyson didn't go over too well with Kelly Davis, who trains and manages his younger brother.

"Roger Mayweather used to train him and he'd be in the gym saying, 'Who wants a piece of Baby Tyson?' It was a big joke to (Mayweather)," Kelly Davis said. "They didn't think 'the little guy' would go anywhere. They'd get a big heavyweight and put him in there to watch Kelvin knock them out. He entertained them. He'd be in there, swinging like hell -- street fighting, really. I wondered, 'Why don't you teach him something?'"

Kelvin not only credits Kelly for getting him to start defending himself, but for looking out after his interests as well.

"Without Kelly, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have," Davis said.

After his streetfighting career and "around 10 or 11" amateur fights (he learned to box at the Truckee Meadows Boys & Girls Club), Davis turned professional as a heavyweight with a two-round TKO over Randy Worth in October 1999. He won his first 16 fights before being held to a controversial draw with journeyman David Vedder in Reno on the Sept. 8, 2001, Marco Antonio Barrera-Enrique Sanchez card at Lawlor Events Center.

Davis tasted his first defeat last year when he dropped a 10-round decision to Ravea Springs, who was subsequently stopped in the fourth round in his next fight, a title shot against undefeated WBC cruiserweight champ Wayne Braithwaite.

"Give (Springs) credit. He's a good fighter, but he's not better than me," Davis said. "It wasn't what he did. It was what I didn't do. I didn't use my jab. I almost had him out in the 10th round. I want to fight 12 rounds from now on."

Against Bell, that's just what he'll be doing.

"I know this cat (Bell) is going to get knocked the hell out," Kevin Davis said. "(Bell's) promoter told him he had to take this fight. (Bell) didn't want it. Bell is a pressure fighter, not a boxer."

Kevin Davis feels that will play right into the hands of his brother, who he said he has seen knock out Etienne several times in sparring. Kevin Davis said Kelvin has hurt several other top heavyweights in sparring, including former heavyweight contenders David Izon, Hasim Rahman and 6-foot-8 Lance "Mount" Whitaker.

Said Kevin Davis: "Does Bell hit harder than these guys? No. Has Bell ever fought at heavyweight? No. Kevin's fought 17 times as a heavyweight. All we gotta do now is show them."

And nobody wants to show them more than Davis, who has some big plans for his future.

"I want to unify the cruiserweight championships, then go back to heavyweight," Davis said. "I like fighting big guys. I'm a heavyweight, not a cruiserweight. I have heavyweight power."

You don't have to tell that to anyone who has tasted Davis' special gift. They already know.

Notebook: Boxing returns to Reno on Friday, as former WBA super lightweight champion Sharmba Mitchell and Ben "Wonder" Tackie headline a seven-fight card at City Center Pavilion.

The event, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, in association with Budweiser, Circus Circus, Eldorado Hotel Casino, Harrah's and Silver Legacy Resort, will be tape-delayed and shown on Showtime Championship Boxing at 10 p.m.

Mitchell is 51-3, with 30 knockouts, and is currently ranked No. 2 by both the IBF and WBA. He and Tackie (24-3, 15 KOs) will square off in a 12-round IBF junior welterweight title-eliminator, with the winner to be ranked No. 1 by the IBF and assured a shot at undisputed IBF junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu.

In the 12-round co-main event, 2000 Olympian Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy (13-0, 11 KO's) will defend his WBC Continental Americas and USBA super middleweight titles against Anwar Oshana (23-2, 13 KOs).

The first fight begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are priced at $75, $60, $40 and $25, and can be purchased by calling 1-888-288-1833, or through Circus Circus (main cage), Silver Legacy Resort Casino (Club Legacy booth), Harrah's (box office) and Eldorado Hotel Casino (Showroom box office).