KEYSHAWN Davis is a few days away from his first world championship contest against WBO lightweight titleholder Denys Berinchyk and while widely expected to pass that Valentine's Day test with flying colors, there's one particular name he'll inevitably be linked to.

Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) divided opinion with his one-sided victory (99-91, 98-92, 98-92) over Omar Salcido Gamez on the Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson prelims, January 25.

Some feel that while the decorated amateur has impressed during his early days in the paid ranks, he needs an adversary testing him in ways that prove he's ready for tougher matchmaking with speed the same way future Hall of Famer Vasiliy Lomachenko was, back more than a decade ago.

While Maxi Hughes (28-7-2, 6 KOs) has called for a WBA eliminator between two top-5 ranked contenders on social media, it's unclear which opponent is planned next for a highly-rated Cuban in a division with plenty of moving parts.

Among those parts relates to the uncertain future surrounding IBF champion Lomachenko (18-3,12 KOs), who was originally expected to box unbeaten titlist Gervonta Davis in an IBF/WBO unification last autumn. Instead, he opted to sit out the remainder of the calendar year rather than box Davis at Las Vegas' MGM Grand on November 2, the rumored date.

After suffering a back injury in training, the Ukrainian has been approved another medical extension and must defend his IBF title against the winner of interim gold: Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) vs. Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) by October 8, 2025. His manager Egis Klimas, previously said that if he's healthy, he will box again.

Klimas, who also manages Abdullaev, knows that time waits for no man and speculation will continue to linger the longer they leave his future undecided.

Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn, who signed the 29-year-old to great fanfare in May 2023, remained optimistic about Cruz's future when speaking to The Ring last week.

"I thought he looked great! He beat Gamez easily and will be very difficult to beat going forward, we need to get him into a mandatory position for a world title. Look at Keyshawn, he's a great fighter and boxed Cruz four times, couldn't get anywhere near beating him. I know, I know, it's the amateurs but you can't say it's irrelevant can you? Davis will beat Berinchyk but away from Shakur - who he won't fight - and Tank, which could one day be a great fight, what's the biggest fight at 135? Cruz.

"Keyshawn is a competitor, I can make him nibble enough to take that fight and let the public buy into it [their storyline] because of the history. I think Loma will retire and if that's the case, the Muratalla-Abdullaev winner will be upgraded, Andy plays with those guys. We've got to get him a world title fight elsewhere and after that, Keyshawn has to fight him."

Cruz and Davis had a brief exchange during the earlier portion of the Pacheco-Nelson prelims, with the latter left unimpressed by Matchroom's subsequent incendiary social media post afterwards.

Last week, the 25-year-old told a select group of reporters that when it makes sense, he'd "jump on the fight because it's going to sell", but insisted Cruz's head trainer Bozy Ennis, father of IBF welterweight champion Jaron, knows the Cuban contender is far from ready just yet.