Keyshawn Davis is in trouble again. After a majority decision victory over Nahir Albright in October 2023 was ruled a no-contest after he tested positive for marijuana, the Norfolk, Virginia native was stripped of his WBO lightweight world championship this past weekend.
Scheduled to fight Edwin De Los Santos in the main event on Saturday night at his hometown Scope Arena in a match slated to be nationally televised on ESPN, Davis weighed in at 139.3 pounds, 4.3 pounds over the 13lb limit. As a result, the fight was canceled and Davis’ belt taken away by the WBO.
It got worse for Davis after his brother, Kelvin Davis, lost to Albright by a majority decision in their WBC U.S. Silver junior-welterweight title bout on the same card. Keyshawn and Kelvin engaged in a physical altercation with Albright in the tunnel of the Scope. An assault report was filed with the Norfolk Police Department, and a video of the scuffle appears to confirm the allegations made by Albright, which Kelvin Davis denied on social media.
The combination of events suggests that the 26-year-old Keyshawn Davis, who is 13-0 with a no-contest on his record as a professional, is not at a point in his career where he possesses the necessary self-discipline to be a longtime champion and event headliner. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics lightweight silver medalist would have been the featured boxer on a major card at the Scope for the second time. Instead, a suspension could, and should be in his future. His failure to make weight and confrontation with Albright was a stain on the sport, and a blatant disregard for his opponent, promoter (Top Rank), and ESPN.
MMA fighter Sean O’Malley invoked a torn labrum –– that he later had surgery on –– as the reason he lost his UFC bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili by a unanimous decision, last September.O’Malley couldn’t use injury as a reason in their rematch Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark as Dvalishvili defended his title by dominating the first two rounds in defeating him by submission in the third round at UFC 316. Kayla Harrison won the UFC women’s bantamweight championship after dominating Julianna Pena and earning a second-round submission.
Next Saturday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, IBF world junior welterweight champion and Brooklyn native, Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs), who is 27, will face former champion George Kambosos Jr. (22-3-0, 10 KOs), who is 31.