Norfolk’s showcase unraveled at the scales on Friday when WBO lightweight titleholder Keyshawn Davis arrived 4.3 lb heavy, forcing promoter Sampson Lewkowicz to pull challenger Edwin De Los Santos from the fight. Davis admitted he had “outgrown” 135 lbs, but Lewkowicz saw a calculated gamble: “He trained for 140; money doesn’t buy health.” With the belt vacant and Davis stripped, Top Rank elevated a 10-round junior-welter scrap between Kelvin Davis and Nahir Albright to main-event status.
The collapse stings De Los Santos hardest. Idle since dropping a decision to Shakur Stevenson in 2023, the Dominican southpaw made weight and believed a second title shot was finally in hand. Lewkowicz invoked last year’s Ryan Garcia–Devin Haney fiasco to justify walking away: “Haney took the money and paid the price. I won’t repeat that mistake.”
For Keyshawn, the misfire merely accelerates an inevitable move to 140 lbs - where he’s already baiting rising star Abdullah Mason. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was blunt: “He never really tried to make 135.” The episode, though, dents Davis’ image as a disciplined “Businessman” and hands the sanctioning body a fresh vacancy likely to be filled by Mason and Britain’s Sam Noakes.
Davis insists the show will go on for him; De Los Santos must watch another opportunity slip past. In a sport where timing is everything, one fighter’s strategic weight jump has cost another twelve months of waiting - and left Norfolk fans without the headliner they bought tickets to see.
The new main event features Mason vs. Nakathila.
Image Credit: Top Rank