Keyshawn Davis was due to make the first defence of the WBO lightweight title he won impressively against Denys Berinchyk. The Norfolk native was set to face Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) in his hometown, before sensationally missing the weight limit by 4.3lbs resulting in him being stripped of his world title. His old amateur rival, Andy Cruz has given his brutal response to Davis missing weight.
Andy Cruz Reacts to Keyshawn Davis Missing Weight
Cruz Slams Keyshawn Davis After Title Stripping
Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) missing weight has attracted plenty of criticism from the boxing world, with many accusing the 26-year-old of not even trying to make weight, with Bob Arum telling Fight Freaks Unite: “You can tell if a guy is trying to make weight & just can’t. You can see that he’s dehydrated. That wasn’t the case with Keyshawn. He never really tried to make 135. That’s my view of what happened.”
Many more have had their say on “The Businessman” missing weight, which led to the cancellation of his title defence. The card still went ahead, but in a severely downgraded form.
Talking to Matchroom, Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs), who beat Davis four times in the amateurs gave his opinion of the incident: “As a father, I feel disappointed in my son because those are not the values I showed him. More than anything, it was disrespectful to boxing, and to his own fans who were looking forward to seeing him that night.
“An athlete, regardless of the sport, has to be professional. A boxer must be professional inside and outside the ring, and what he did wasn’t to my liking. And then the altercation after the fight comes from being a bad loser. It’s a sport. You win and lose and you need to know how to win and lose.”
Keyshawn Davis
Keyshawn Davis reacted at the time and said: “I outgrew the weight,” Davis said. “I been making this weight for over four years now. I just outgrew the weight. I tried. I was up late last night. I woke up early this morning, trying to make the weight. I just outgrew the weight, man. I was feeling it the last time I was fighting [Denys] Berinchyk. I thank God that I made it. Y’all don’t know how I was feeling making it. But hey, it is what it is.”
