Joe Profit of the O.S.O.S. podcast recently spoke with Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum, who revealed that Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis had requested and received a release from his contract despite one remaining fight.
Arum was very flippant about the whole thing and made obvious his disinterest in kicking off a legal battle, which isn’t surprising considering “The Businessman’s” recent behavior. Davis (15-0, 10 KO) nuked the scale ahead of a planned lightweight title defense against Edwin
De Los Santos last year, attacked Nahir Albright backstage after Albright beat his brother, and turned down over $2 million dollars to fight Devin Haney for the WBO welterweight belt. He recently set his sights on a showdown with Richardson Hitchins, which has now fallen apart after Davis, according to Hitchins, demanded $6 million.
Look, I come from the MMA world, where the leading monopsony has turned stiffing its talent into an art form. I support fighters’ efforts to receive appropriate compensation for giving themselves CTE to please the masses. But Keyshawn Davis might be the most entitled fighter in recent memory. He hadn’t fought once at 147, but Top Rank still managed to slot him in as a mandatory challenger for Haney, only for Davis to spit in their faces. As Hitchins points out, that was more than twice the size of Davis’ largest purse to date, and now he wants three times that for a non-title fight as a free agent.
If he wants to keep coasting on his talent and credentials, he’s free to do so. Just stop wasting actual fighters’ time.
