Keyshawn Davis stripped of WBO lightweight title after missing weight, Edwin De Los Santos fight in jeopardy

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 fight with Edwin De Los Santos.

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 should he upset Davis on Saturday. That is, if the fight goes on.

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.”