Boxing World Slams Keyshawn Davis for Weight Miss and Altercation: "Behave Like a Champion!"
Boxing World Slams Keyshawn Davis for Weight Miss and Altercation: "Behave Like a Champion!" originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
While championship belts are won in the ring, legacies are built outside it. The boxing world has seen too many talented fighters derailed by unprofessional behavior, from weight misses to public altercations that overshadow their skills. Champions are held to a higher standard, expected to embody discipline and sportsmanship even when the cameras are off. A fighter's reputation often hinges on moments when they're not throwing punches – moments where character matters most.
Advertisement
Hall of Fame boxing analyst Teddy Atlas didn't hold back on his podcast The Fight with Teddy Atlas, scolding WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis for his recent weight miss and backstage altercation with Nahir Albright after he defeated Davis's brother Kelvin.
Elsa-GettyImages
The incident occurred ahead of Davis's now-canceled June 8 title defense, where he failed to make weight by 3.5 pounds, leading to his temporary stripping of the WBO belt.
Atlas, known for his no-nonsense commentary, dissected the controversy with trademark bluntness, emphasizing that Davis's actions betrayed the responsibilities of being a champion.
Advertisement
"There's a responsibility that goes along with that title, champion," Atlas declared. "The responsibility is that you have to make sure you behave like a champion at all times. Not only in the corner, not only when you've been hurt, not only when you're tired, but at all times."
The veteran trainer, who has mentored 18 world champions, stressed that Davis's lapse in professionalism overshadowed his accomplishments, including his Olympic silver medal and undefeated record. Atlas acknowledged Davis's talent and his ability to overcome mental health issues, but argued that greatness requires consistency beyond the ring.
'That night, for all the good things that Keyshawn Davis has done—and he's done a lot that I already touched on to get to where he's gotten to through life—he let himself down,' Atlas said in disappointment. 'He let himself down because he forgot for a moment what a champion doesn't do.'
The altercation with Albright, which escalated into a physical confrontation at the Scope Arena in Virginia, further fueled Atlas' criticism.
Advertisement
Watch the incident here:
'There's a responsibility that goes far beyond putting combinations together. It has got to do with the choices you make outside the ring, in life.' Atlas continued. 'You must understand there are certain things that are just beneath you, that are not allowable.'
On an ESPN post-show reaction of the altercation, analyst Mark Kriegl and boxing veteran Timothy Bradley Jr. expressed their disdain for Davis's behavior as well.
'It's a damn shame... I admire the kid so much for what he has overcome and what he has shown at this very arena,' said Kriegl. 'What we just saw was not supposed to happen. It was unnecessary and certainly didn't hurt the Davis brothers.'
Advertisement
Bradley was much more critical in his assessment of the incident, extending his criticism to the other Davis brother, Keon, who was involved in the backstage brawl.
'[His] stock just plummeted to the floor,' Bradley said. 'I was a Davis brothers fan, I was. Nah, I'm an Abdullah Mason, Mason five brothers fan because of the way they behave as true professionals.'
The fallout has been swift. The WBO reinstated Davis' title only after he agreed to face mandatory challenger Edwin De Los Santos by September, but the damage to his reputation lingers.
Davis has yet to address the incident, but his antics could cost him lucrative fights, including a potential showdown with Gervonta Davis.
Advertisement
Related: Former Mike Tyson Coach Praises Junto Nakatani's Versatility: 'Fights Like Joe Frazier and Jake LaMotta'
Related: UFC, WWE, and Boxing Mega-Event Reportedly in the Works
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt leads new Real American Freestyle wrestling signees
Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt headlines a group of four women who have signed with Real American Freestyle wrestling. Hildebrandt became the fourth American woman to win a gold medal in Olympic wrestling when she defeated Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba in the 50-kilogram final last year in Paris. Other signees the new company announced Thursday are Olympic silver medalist Lucía 'Jami' Yepez Guzman, Audrey Jimenez and Zeltin Hernandez Guerra. They join Kennedy Blades, a silver medalist for the United States at the Paris Olympics, as the anchors of the women's division. 'Real American Freestyle was created to trailblaze, and these incredible women joining our roster are a critical part of that,' RAF commissioner Hulk Hogan said in a statement. Yepez Guzman, who is from Ecuador, was a silver medalist at the Paris Olympics. She also won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, the 2021 Junior Pan American Games and the 2021 U23 World Wrestling Championships. Jimenez, 19, was a U.S. Olympic Trials runner-up. She was the first female to win an Arizona state championship in the boys division. She won the 2025 Senior Pan American Championships at 50 kilograms last month, with a win over Guzman Lopez in the semifinals. Hernandez Guerra is a Mexican who won gold at the U23 Pan American Championships last year. ___
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt leads new Real American Freestyle wrestling signees
FILE - United State's Sarah Hildebrandt celebrates after defeating Mongolia's Otgonjargal Dolgorjav during their women's freestyle 50kg wrestling semifinal match, Aug. 6, 2024 at Champ-de-Mars Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt headlines a group of four women who have signed with Real American Freestyle wrestling. Hildebrandt became the fourth American woman to win a gold medal in Olympic wrestling when she defeated Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba in the 50-kilogram final last year in Paris. Advertisement Other signees the new company announced Thursday are Olympic silver medalist Lucía 'Jami' Yepez Guzman, Audrey Jimenez and Zeltin Hernandez Guerra. They join Kennedy Blades, a silver medalist for the United States at the Paris Olympics, as the anchors of the women's division. 'Real American Freestyle was created to trailblaze, and these incredible women joining our roster are a critical part of that,' RAF commissioner Hulk Hogan said in a statement. Yepez Guzman, who is from Ecuador, was a silver medalist at the Paris Olympics. She also won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, the 2021 Junior Pan American Games and the 2021 U23 World Wrestling Championships. Jimenez, 19, was a U.S. Olympic Trials runner-up. She was the first female to win an Arizona state championship in the boys division. She won the 2025 Senior Pan American Championships at 50 kilograms last month, with a win over Guzman Lopez in the semifinals. Advertisement Hernandez Guerra is a Mexican who won gold at the U23 Pan American Championships last year. Real American Freestyle events will feature matches at eight men's and four women's weight classes. The first is scheduled for Aug. 30 in Cleveland, with other sites to be named in the coming months. ___ AP sports:
New York Times
40 minutes ago
- New York Times
Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track cancels Los Angeles meet
Grand Slam Track (GST), the global track and field series founded by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson, has cancelled its meet in Los Angeles later this month — only two months after its first event. The June 28-29 event at LA's Drake Stadium was the fourth and final meet of the inaugural season, with the series previously held in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia. Advertisement As first reported by The Times, talks are scheduled throughout Thursday with athletes and sponsors who will be impacted by the decision, which has been made to limit against the potential money losses of the meet. GST sources, who confirmed to The Athletic the LA meet will now not go ahead, insist there will be a second series and that they will be able to secure fresh investment. The most recent meet, at Philadelphia's Franklin Field, alongside the scheduled LA event, were reduced from three days to two. GST said the decision to compress the schedule was a response to feedback from athletes, coaches, and fans. The premise of GST is simple, with Johnson driving a strategy to bring track athletics into the sporting mainstream between the Olympics, which are held just once every four years. The World Championship Athletics is a bi-annual event. The series was also motivated to not only reward athletes with better exposure and status but to increase their pay, with star names contracted to the league structure to encourage storylines, themes and rivalries. 'I always felt like people knew me as an Olympic champion,' Johnson told The Athletic last month, outlining his motivation for the series. 'They knew me as 'Oh, you're the fastest in the world', but they didn't really know why other than because they saw me three years ago in the Olympics.' Since 2010, the most notable global track and field series has been the invitational Diamond League, in which athletes try to accumulate the most points over 14 meetings to qualify for the end-of-season final and a chance to be crowned the Diamond League champion. The Diamond League says this season around $18 million (£13.47 million) will be paid to athletes, which includes promotional fees for the biggest names. In November, UK Athletics rejected the chance of GST involvement, citing a focus on making the Diamond League in London profitable, as well as efforts to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. Advertisement 'We're positive about Michael Johnson's format,' UKA's chief executive, Jack Buckner said. 'But three days of just track athletics is a lot of tickets to sell in the London Stadium and the cost base comes pretty high there. 'They did approach us and we had a really good discussion with them. We would like to have a bigger, more comprehensive events portfolio, but we want that built on strong foundations that are sustainable.' (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
