Top Rank announced on Friday the cancellation of the bout between Keyshawn Davis and Edwin De Los Santos. The reason cited was Davis failing to make weight during the official weigh-in earlier in the day.
The fight had been scheduled to take place on Saturday evening at the Scope Arena in Davis` hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.
Davis was scheduled to defend his WBO lightweight title. However, he weighed in at 139.3 pounds, significantly over the 135-pound limit by 4.3 pounds. As a result of missing weight, Davis was stripped of his title, and the championship would have been on the line solely for De Los Santos if the fight proceeded.
According to Sampson Lewkowicz, De Los Santos` promoter, his camp was unhappy with the substantial weight miss. The teams engaged in protracted negotiations in an attempt to salvage the main event. However, unable to reach an agreement, the fight was ultimately called off.
“We renegotiated conditions around the 10 pounds (referring to the weight discrepancy or penalty) and added money, but we concluded that Davis never even attempted to make weight,” Lewkowicz told ESPN. “He came dancing to the scale. I didn`t want what happened with [Devin] Haney and [Ryan] Garcia to be repeated. We canceled the fight.”
Lewkowicz drew a parallel to the April 2024 fight between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. In that instance, Garcia also missed weight, went on to win the bout by decision, but the result was later changed to a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
“The most important thing is Edwin,” Lewkowicz stated. “I hope this sets an example [for others].”
The main event for Saturday evening`s card has now been elevated to Abdullah Mason`s lightweight clash against Jeremia Nakathila. Keyshawn`s older brother, Kelvin Davis, has been moved into the co-main event, facing Nahir Albright in a junior lightweight contest.