At roughly 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo on Saturday morning, U.S. lightweight Keyshawn Davis boxer spoke his performance into existence, as he tweeted, "Today [is] gonna be one of my best performances."
View social media post: https://twitter.com/KeyshawnDavis8/status/1421258569962299392?s=20
Hours later, Davis delivered.
He defeated France lightweight Sofiane Oumiha, the weight class' reigning silver medalist, via second-round knockout, punching the American's ticket to the quarterfinals against R.O.C.'s Gabil Mamedov.
Davis' TKO has significant implications on the United States' boxing status; not only was he able to take down a former medalist and the top seed of the entire weight class, but the Norfolk, VA product came one step closer to ending a monumental U.S. men's boxing drought. The men's division of the national team has not claimed a gold medal in any Olympic Games since Andre Ward won it in Athens, Greece at the 2004 Olympic Games.
In the second round, Davis landed a perfectly-placed right hook to the jaw, which left Oumiha wobbling, unable to maintain his own balance. The referee then decided he had seen enough, calling off the match and sending Davis to the quarterfinals.