Keyshawn Davis will announce his next fight this Friday, April 18th, for his first defense of his WBO lightweight title against Edwin De Los Santos on June 7th at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

The “Gauntlet” Ignored?

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) has been pushing for a fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis but hasn’t shown the bravery to put himself in a position to fight him by going through an active minefield of still explosive mines against these three talents:

1. Andy Cruz
2. Raymond Muratalla
3. Abdullah Mason

Instead of fighting them, Keyshawn will face #13 De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs), who hasn’t fought in two years and is coming off a loss to Shakur Stevenson in 2023. The timing of a fight against De Los Santos works for Keyshawn because he gets a ring-rusty opponent. Two years ago, the fight would have made more sense, but not now.

Keyshawn should fight Andy Cruz on June 7th. Cruz has beaten Davis four times, has been calling him out 24/7, and is ranked #1 WBC.

“That’s a great fight. I love that Keyshawn is a dog and is going after the dangerous guys in the division. De Los Santos is a guy that gives everybody trouble. He’s a very dangerous counter-puncher, and Keyshawn wants all the smoke,” said Chris Algieri to Fighthype about WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis’s next fight against Edwin De Los Santos on June 7th in Norfolk.

De Los Santos is better than anyone that Keyshawn has fought thus far, but that’s not saying much. Keyshawn hasn’t fought anyone yet during his four-year career, and he picked up his WBO belt last February against the weakest link among the champions at 135, Denys Berinchyk.

“He’s doing exactly what a champion should do. He’s going for the guys that people don’t want to fight,” said Algieri. “I respect the guys that do that. There’s not a lot of big reward in De Los Santos. Us boxing hardcores understand, but for the fans, it’s not. It’s a dangerous fight.”

De Los Santos’s Inactivity

What on Earth is Algieri talking about? How can they be avoiding De Los Santos when he’s been sitting on the sofa for the last two years? If he was fighting, keeping his name in the limelight, he would have gotten fights against all the top names.

By now, De Los Santos would have already fought Abdullah Mason, Andy Cruz, and Raymond Muratalla. How can anybody be avoiding De Los Santos when he’s been fermenting like aging wine in a barrel for two years?

“Now, De Los Santos, if he loses two in a row to Davis, people are going to write him off even more and underestimate how dangerous of an opponent he is even more,” said Paulie Malignaggi. “I remember all the Tank blowhards criticizing Shakur for the way he looked against De Los Santos. I said, ‘Okay, have Tank fight him. Let’s see how he looks.’ He didn’t go near him.

“It goes to show you the kind of character Keyshawn Davis has as well to take on De Los Santos. But it also shows the kind of character De Los Santos has. He can’t get a fight. So, he’s like, ‘Alright, whatever. I’ll just fight anybody,’ even if it’s the toughest fights possible,’” said Malignaggi.