What to Know
- News of a successful purse bid by Top Rank Boxing to stage a championship fight between Devin Haney and Keyshawn Davis was blown up on Friday.
- The challenger Davis rejected his share of the purse as too low, estimated at $2.14 million.
- After multiple incidents of unprofessional behavior, Davis got little sympathy from the boxing community.
For a fighter whose nickname is “The Businessman,” Keyshawn Davis only seems to be interested in funny business recently.
Undefeated contender Davis of Norfolk, Virginia (15-0, 10 KOs) seemed about to benefit from the World Boxing Organization (WBO) ordering a purse bid for a fight with its welterweight champion, Devin Haney of Las Vegas (33-0, 15 KOs).
Purse Bid By Top Rank Would Give Big Payday To Davis
Davis’s promoter, Top Rank, won the purse bid at $8.55 million. Haney would receive 75% as the champion, and Davis 25%. It would be Davis’s biggest ever payday at $2.14 million. Not a bad take for a boxer with just 15 pro fights.
Just as boxing fans started getting excited about seeing Haney vs Davis in an All-American showdown, the WBO announced that Davis had withdrawn from the ordered title fight. The WBO reported that Davis informed them he was rejecting his share of the purse as not substantive enough.
“The matter will now be referred to the WBO Championship Committee and Ratings Committee for the appropriate ruling under the WBO World Championship Rules and Regulations,” said the WBO in a published statement.
The WBO also reported that the matter would be referred to the WBO Championship Committee and Ratings Committee for the appropriate ruling under the WBO World Championship Rules and Regulations.
Keyshawn Davis Allowed to Get Away With Bad Behavior
The universal reaction in the boxing world was equal parts swift, angry, and perplexed. Why would Davis turn down a career-high payday nearly double his largest previous purse, and the opportunity to win a world title?
It was all too easy to pile on given Davis’s shameful record of bad behavior. First, Davis was stripped of his lightweight belt when his celebratory homecoming fight in Norfolk, Virginia, arranged by Top Rank, collapsed after he was dramatically over the weight limit. His opponent, Edwin De Los Santos, resisted pressure and refused to accept the fight with Davis, who was so far over the weight limit.
Davis seemed to laugh it off, showing up and sitting in the front row eating popcorn, then deciding to lay hands on Nahir Albright, a former opponent whom he barely defeated, then had the majority decision overturned when he tested positive for marijuana. He took offense when Albright defeated his brother, Kelvin Davis, in an upset win.
The ruckus spilled out into a corridor with cameras rolling. Davis and the third brother, Keon Davis, were thrown out of the arena.
Nevertheless, Top Rank seemed to forgive Davis. He won two non-title fights after moving up to 140 over Jamaine Ortiz and Nahir Albright. But again, he struggled to make weight, and announced he would move up to welterweight.
“I’ll probably go to 147, I ain’t gonna lie. All this making weight stuff, it ain’t for me. As you all can see, ain’t good at making weight. I just know how to fight,” admitted Davis.
As a former WBO champion in a lower weight class, the WBO agreed to install him in the mandatory position, teeing up a title challenge against Haney.
If It Looks and Sounds Like A Duck
Now, despite his bad behavior, lack of discipline and poor personal judgment, Davis found himself on the brink of being afforded a chance few other fighters ever get. And he turned it down. The reasoning boiled down to the strong impression that Davis didn’t trust himself to win a fight against Haney.
Father and trainer Bill Haney, known for speaking his mind, stated the obvious and got right to the point.
He ducked it. 😤
— Bill Haney (@BillHaney77) July 31, 2026
When is Top Rank going to decide Keyshawn Davis is simply too unreliable to work with? Employees like Davis in any other business would be cut loose because, despite their talents, they present too great a headache. They also demoralize the rest of their co-workers by being allowed to get away with their misbehavior.
Davis is an athletically talented fighter. Good, not yet great. But for a fighter who nicknamed himself “The Businessman,” Davis needs to get his act together and buckle down. His lack of discipline has trashed his reputation and risked a career that he worked hard for over many years, ascending through the amateur boxing system to win an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo
He sadly reminds me of a 2026 version of Adrian Broner, a supremely gifted athlete and braggadocious talker who couldn’t help but draw attention to himself. He infamously self-destructed from his own vices and the lack of anyone who would speak hard truth to him.
Here’s hoping someone sits down with Davis ASAP and tries to drill some sense into him. He has no idea how close he is to flushing his future down the drain.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
