Keyshawn Davis is dealing with a huge backlash from fans after missing the 135-pound weight limit by 4.3 lbs. at Friday’s weigh-in for his maiden title defense of his WBO lightweight belt against Edwin De Los Santos on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, live on ESPN. For Keyshawn (13-0, 9 KOs) to miss weight by such a wide margin, people believe he never attempted to make weight.
Indeed, Davis, 26, admitted after the weigh-in that he’d already planned that this was going to be his last fight at lightweight, and that he’d be moving up to light welterweight [140]. His missing weight was just a signal that he didn’t take it seriously, weighing in, and that he wanted to give himself an extra precaution, so he wouldn’t lose to the big puncher De Los Santos.
For fans who connect the dots, they DON’T view this as a lack of discipline. This is more about Keyshawn giving himself an edge to ensure he doesn’t lose before leaving the division.
With him seemingly only putting in a slight effort at making weight, he’ll be stronger and heavier than De Los Santos on Saturday. In Davis’s last fight against Denys Berinchyk, he resembled a small junior middleweight after rehydrating. Keyshawn destroyed the WBO 135-lb champion Berinchyk with size.
WBO Lightweight Title Vacant
Now that the WBO lightweight title is vacant, De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) can capture it on Saturday night if he’s victorious against Keyshawn. He’s not expected to win, however, because he hasn’t fought since 2023 and is coming off a loss to Shakur Stevenson. Given that De Los Santos will be giving away a lot of size, that’s another reason why he won’t win.
Assuming Keyshawn is victorious, the WBO belt will be fought over potentially by Abdullah Mason and San Noakes. #2 WBO-ranked Mason (18-0, 16 KOs) still needs to win his fight on the undercard this Saturday against Jeremia Nakathilia for him to have a shot at fighting #1 WBO Noakes.
Official Weights
– Keyshawn Davis: 139.3 vs. Edwin De Los Santos: 134.7
– Abdullah Mason: 134.5 vs. Jeremia Nakathila: 134.8
– Kelvin Davis: 140 vs. Nahir Albright: 139
– Delante “Tiger” Johnson: 147.2 vs. Janelson Bocachica: 147.6
– Troy Isley: 159.9 vs. Etoundi Michel William: 159.2
– Keon Davis: 146.5 vs. Michael Velez-Garcia: 145.4
– Euri Cedeno: 158.4 vs. Abel Mina: 158.9
– Deric Davis: 137.6 vs. Naheem Parker: 138.8
– Patrick O’Connor: 198.8 vs. Marcus Smith: 199.1
