Keyshawn Davis Does Not Need to Throw Weed Under the Bus, Plus More Musings From Man in Hot Dog Suit

If you watched Keyshawn Davis defeat Jose Pedraza last Thursday on ESPY television, you were likely treated to the backstory of Keyshawn having his last fight in Texas overturned from a win to a no decision due to Davis testing positive for marijuana.

I was the one that broke the news on Twitter that the Texas commission had overturned the result due to a drug test failure, and I remember that day a lot of people were riding Keyshawn pretty hard on all social media platforms.

It should be noted that the Texas commission has not publicly confirmed which drug Keyshawn tested positive for after his bout against Nahir Albright on August 14th, 2023 – the marijuana test failure narrative specifically came from Top Rank and the Davis camp.

The fighter spoke on his battling mental illness which includes stopping smoking reefer

However, I don't doubt that marijuana was the drug in this case, as Texas is very notorious for suspending fighters on club shows frequently for drug test failures.

I would even go as far as to say that they fail fighters on drug tests more than any other state.

A part of me was hoping that there would be criticism towards the Texas athletic commission and their archaic drug laws on Top Rank on ESPN Thursday.

Instead we got a strange story about how Keyshawn Davis essentially overcame the “Devil Weed” that was making him lazy, and now he was newly focused.

A more motivated Keyshawn. A happier Keyshawn. All because he put down a joint.

There might be some truth to what Davis said – that marijuana was bringing him down physically – as his sixth round stoppage over Jose Pedraza was clearly the best performance of his career.

Regardless, he should not be expected to pay a penance or in his own words, “Have a conversation with God” if marijuana was truly the cause of his last fight being overturned. It reflects more on the Texas commission and their unwillingness to change with the times.

I'm sure the executives at Top Rank were laughing over this Reefer Madness narrative Joe Tessitore was saying on air. It's probably easier for them to go that angle than to criticize an athletic commission that they're going to have to work with in the future.

In a perfect world, however, we need to start holding these athletic commissions more accountable.

These are state employees that essentially decide the future of our athletes.

It doesn't help the narrative that athletic commissions seem to exist to punish fighters, matchmakers, promoters, and managers rather than to actually grow the sport and generate income for their states.

For now, we will have commissions that feel it's their top priority to monitor just exactly how much THC is in a fighter's urine in order to maintain the sanctity of boxing.

Thoughts on upcoming boxing this week:

We have quite a few televised shows in the United States, but no household names in action … Thursday night features JoJo Diaz (33-4-1) main eventing a Golden Boy promotions card against Jesus Antonio Perez Campos (24-5) in a fight that is designed keep JoJo ready to fight Floyd Schofield later in the year …

Joseph Diaz Jr. lost to Devin Haney, that fight effort looks better in review. Photo: Ed Mulholland, Matchroom.

I'm more interested in seeing 25 year old Ricardo Sandoval (23-2) continue to rebuild and challenge for a potential title at flyweight as he meets former world title challenger Jayson Mama (19-1) in the co-main … On Friday we will get to witness O'Shaquie Foster's (21-2) first appearance on ESPN television as he defends his WBC super featherweight title against Abraham Nova (23-1) … I think Nova could make it an interesting night if his chin is able to hold up … The co-main has Andres Cortes (20-0) trying to stay busy at 130 lb against Bryan Chevalier (20-1-1), who will likely have large Puerto Rican crowd support …

There's a lot to like on this undercard as well, I think Bruce Carrington (10-0) should be Top Rank's Top Priority to make sure he continues to improve and win at featherweight as he could be in a potential Inoue opponent down the road, I'd expect him to get by Bernard Torres (18-1) fairly easily … I'd imagine Tiger Johnson (11-0) will be in a competitive fight against Paulo Cesar Galindo (13-7-2) as well as Guido Vianello (11-1-1) against Moses Johnson (11-1-2) … We'll also get to see top Dominican middleweight prospect Euri Cedeno (7-0-1) against solid gatekeeper Antonio Todd (16-9) … ProBox runs on a rare Friday night with a pair of 122 pounders looking to get into the top 10 as Israel Rodriguez (30-5) will have his hands full against Ramon Cardenas (23-1) …A solid co-main will feature Jesus Saracho (13-1-1) and Starling Castillo (18-1-1) looking to break into the top 50 at 140 lb … Brazilian Cruiserweight Luca Pontes da Silva (7-0) will likely have a very tough test against Efetobor Apochi (11-2) as well … Joeshon James (8-0-2) who could easily be 10-0 if judging was actually fair will also meet legendary gatekeeper Vaughn Alexander (18-8-1) … I'm hoping the talented Vegas prospect Robert Meriwether III (4-0) will also make the air … I'll be catching all the Friday action on tape delay as I will be doing play-by-play for Boston Boxing Promotions in Melrose Massachusetts, featuring giant Ukrainian heavyweight Andrii Novytskyi (8-0) battling BKFC veteran Bobo O’Bannon (10-6)