KEYSHAWN Davis and Edwin De Los Santos will no longer collide in the early hours of tomorrow morning, despite both parties reportedly reaching an agreement.
The pair were supposed to lock horns at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, only for hometown favourite Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), to hit the scales at 4.3lbs above the lightweight limit yesterday.
As a result, the 26-year-old was immediately stripped of his WBO world title, while De Los Santos, 16-2 (14 KOs) – who came in at 134.7lbs – remained eligible to claim the strap.
But even after a lengthy spell of negotiations, veteran promoter Sampson Lewkowicz ultimately decided to pull his man out of the contest.
According to ESPN, Davis had agreed to a second-day weigh-in, along with a sum that would have been added to his opponent’s fight purse.
Lewkowicz, however, nonetheless made sure to pull the plug, citing safety concerns as the primary reason for his final call at the 11th hour.
“We renegotiated 10 pounds [a 149.3lb rehydration cap], plus money, but we concluded that Davis never tried to make weight; he was dancing on the scale,” Lewkowicz told ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez.
“I didn’t want what happened to [Devin] Haney and [Ryan] Garcia to happen. We cancelled the fight.”
After coming in over the limit, Davis claimed that he had attempted to shave off the extra 4.3lbs; but his body, he said, naturally outgrew the weight.
In any case, ‘The Businessman’ admitted that he would have jumped up to 140lbs soon after, with his lightweight campaign, up to this point, having been defined by a fourth-round stoppage victory over Denys Berinchyk in February.
Due to Davis’ fight cancellation, meanwhile, rising star Abdullah Mason – who takes on Jeremia Nakathila – has been elevated to the main event slot.
It is important to highlight, too, that Mason and British contender Sam Noakes are the leading contenders with the WBO, putting both fighters in a strong position now that the title has become vacant.
