Keyshawn Davis Main Event Fight Cancelled

A wild Friday in Norfolk, Virginia, that was meant to be a prelude to a Saturday night WBO lightweight title defence for unbeaten Champion Keyshawn Davis in his hometown quickly took a turn for the worse when Davis missed weight. Now, an even bigger story has emerged, the title fight is completely off.

Davis, who was set to make the first defence of the championship won in February against contender Edwin De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic, came on to the scale and astonishingly weighed in at 139.3., over 4 lb. beyond the 135 lb. limit.

After the initial shock of the announcement, Davis tried to explain what happened in an interview with Top Rank / ESPN boxing announcer Crystina Poncher on the stage moments after the weigh-in concluded. At that time, midday Friday Eastern Time, Davis and his camp were willing to negotiate by offering De Los Santos more of Davis’ purse to let the fight proceed, even though Davis was being stripped of his WBO championship.

Keyshawn Davis Weight Miss Ends His Title Defense Before It Begins

Davis Explains Being Nearly 5 lb. Overweight

“I just outgrew he weight,” Davis said. “I tried. I was up late last night trying to make that weight. I woke up early this morning trying to the make the weight…it is what it is.”

In the end De Los Santos’ team and promoter Samson Lewkowicz decided it was too risky to allow him to get into the ring with a fighter that didn’t do everything to make the 135 lb. limit.

As a sidebar you can watch our insider Dan Rafael and me react in real time as we were hosting the BetUS TV boxing show live, when the news broke 1 p.m. Eastern Time hour that Davis was massively overweight.

Keyshawn Davis tipped the scales at 139.3 lbs, missing the lightweight limit and losing his WBO title.@BucSidelineGuy & @DanRafael1 found out live and discussed the implications…

🎥 Full discussion ➡️ https://t.co/X1MbDRYPck#KeyshawnDeLosSantos #GamblingX pic.twitter.com/DUsCSYzryn

— BetUS TV (@BetUSTV) June 6, 2025

Keyshawn Davis Cancelled – Abdullah Mason in Main Event

On Friday night, Top Rank Boxing announced the fight card will continue with Abdullah Mason, a rising lightweight from Ohio, stepping into the main event slot in a 10-round bout against veteran Jeremia Nakathila. Top Rank also announced that full refunds were available to anyone who had bought tickets to see Davis’ championship homecoming fight.

This isn’t the first time Davis has faced controversy on his path to the lightweight world championship. Following his win over Nahir Albright in October 2023, he tested positive for marijuana post-fight, with the decision win changed to a no contest.

Davis won the WBO belt when he destroyed Denys Berinchyk in the fourth round to capture the vacant title. It’ unclear whether the Virginia Boxing Commission will take further action against Davis for missing weight? They could suspend his license to fight in the state, a sanction that the Association of Boxing Commissions would likely support.

Regardless, this is a humiliating setback for a talented fighter who won the Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021. It’s also an embarrassment for Top Rank, as the fight was scheduled to headline ESPN on Saturday prime time.