Keyshawn Davis’ run as WBO lightweight champion has ended without Davis making it to the ring for his first defense. Davis badly missed weight on Friday, leading to him being stripped of his title ahead of Saturday’s planned fight with Edwin De Los Santos. Not only was Davis stripped of his title, but ESPN’s Andreas Hale reported that the fight has been canceled entirely after the two sides failed to negotiate an agreement after the weight issues.
Davis weighed in at 139.3 pounds, missing the 135-pound limit by a whopping 4.3 pounds. De Los Santos weighed in at 134.7, leaving him eligible to win the belt had he pulled off an upset of Davis on Saturday.
The card, which will air on ESPN and ESPN+, will move forward with Abdullah Mason vs. Jeremia Nakathila as the main event. Mason is a blue-chip prospect with a record of 18-0 with 16 knockouts. Nakathila is Mason’s best test to date, having shared the ring with talented fighters such as Shakur Stevenson (L – UD), Miguel Berchelt (W – TKO6), Raymond Muratalla (L – TKO2), and Ernesto Mercado (L – KO2).
In the immediate aftermath of Davis missing weight, veteran boxing journalist Dan Rafael posted on X that De Los Santos’ promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, had cast doubt on the fight moving forward, saying, “We are still waiting for a negotiation. We’ll see what happens. In this moment, there is no fight. (Davis) is irresponsible. He’s a not professional.”
Davis is one of the most exciting young fighters in boxing, but Bob Arum of Top Rank, Davis’ promoter, also shared some harsh words with Rafael about his fighter’s efforts to make weight.
“You can tell if a guy is trying to make weight and just can’t,” Arum told Rafael. “You can see that he’s dehydrated. That wasn’t the case with Keyshawn. He never really tried to make 135. That’s my view of what happened.”
For his part, Davis immediately made it clear that his time in the lightweight division ended on the scale.
“I outgrew the weight,” Davis said after stepping off the scale. “[I’ve] been making this weight for over four years now. … I was up late last night, I woke up early this morning trying to make the weight. I just outgrew the weight. It is what it is.”
“I’m pretty sure he’ll still take the fight. The show must go on.”
