by Keith Idec
A day after blowing weight by 6½ pounds, Gustavo Lemos met his revised contractual obligation Friday morning to remain in his 10-round fight against Keyshawn Davis on Friday night.
Lemos stepped on the Virginia Boxing, Martial Arts and Professional Wrestling Advisory Board’s scale at 144.6 pounds, the maximum he was allowed to weigh per terms of an agreement amended Thursday by his promoter, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. Argentina’s Lemos officially weighed 141.4 pounds Thursday for what was supposed to be a 10-round lightweight fight versus Davis at Scope Arena in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.
Davis (11-0, 7 KOs, 1 NC) officially weighed 134.2 pounds, but Lemos came in 6½ pounds over the lightweight limit of 135. Virginia’s regulatory agency requires boxers to weigh no more than 10 pounds over contracted weights at second-day weigh-ins the morning of fights in that state.
The contract weight filed with the Virginia Commission was changed to 136 pounds Thursday. Davis weighed 141.2 pounds Friday morning, still less than Lemos weighed Thursday afternoon.
Had Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) weighed more than 146 pounds Friday morning, his fight with Davis would’ve been canceled because there wasn’t a substitute for Lemos on standby. That could’ve cost promoter Top Rank Inc. plenty of money because more than 10,000 tickets have been sold to the first card Davis, a 2021 Olympic silver medalist, will headline in Norfolk, where late legend Pernell Whitaker fought 10 times at Scope Arena from 1985-94.
The 25-year-old Davis is a 4-1 favorite over Lemos, according to most sportsbooks. Their bout will headline an eight-fight card ESPN+ will stream starting at 11:20 p.m. GMT in the UK (6:20 p.m. ET in the United States).
