Keyshawn Davis, a rising star in the boxing world, was prepared to defend his WBO 135-pound title for the first time against Edwin De Los Santos, in front of a big crowd at Scope Arena, in his hometown of Norfolk, Va., on Saturday night.
However, on Friday, Davis, who captured the WBO 135-pound belt when he defeated Denys Berinchyk in February, failed to make weight, coming in at 139.3 pounds, and was stripped of his title.
Regrettably, the two sides were unable to reach a compromise, leading to the cancellation of the Davis-De Los Santos fight.
Top Rank Promotions announced on Friday that the card will proceed with a new main event, the 10-round lightweight showdown between the unbeaten Abdullah Mason and Namibian contender Jeremia Nakathila.
The Kelvin Davis-Nahir Albright junior welterweight fight has been elevated to co-feature.
According to Ring Magazine’s Keith Idec, the two sides initially agreed to move forward with the fight. Davis wouldn’t have been able to weigh more than 149½ pounds at a second-day weigh-in at 9 a.m. ET Saturday.
The 25-year-old De Los Santos, who weighed in at 134.7 pounds, and his handlers later prioritized safety and decided not to go through with the fight. They hadn’t come to an agreement on the 26-year-old Davis’ financial penalty by that point; De Los Santos will receive his full purse, according to Idec.
After the weigh-in, Davis told ESPN that his fight with De Los Santos would be his last at 135, and he would be moving up to 140.
This is a significant setback for all parties involved in this event. Davis had some great momentum and was really making a name for himself. Additionally, this would have given Davis the opportunity to secure a quality win against a quality opponent.
This is bad business for “The Business Man,” and hopefully, he can learn from it.
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