Keyshawn Defends Against De Los Santos, Mason Faces Nakathila: Lightweight Doubleheader On ESPN, June 7th

It’s now official that Keyshawn Davis will defend his WBO lightweight title against inactive Edwin De Los Santos, live on ESPN on Saturday, June 7th, in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. On the undercard, Keyshawn’s brothers, Keon and Kelvin Davis, will see action. The event will be shown on ESPN and ESPN+, starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Inactive Challenger

There are some questions about why De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) was selected as the challenger for Keyshawn to fight in his first defense of his belt. De Los Santos has three strikes against him:

1. Inactive for 2 years = ring rusty
2. Lost his last fight
3. Not well known to casual fans

It would have been better for fans if Top Rank had bit the bullet and used Andy Cruz or Raymond Muratalla as Keyshawn’s opponent for the June 7th card. If he were to lose to one of them, at least Top Rank would know what they got in him and dump him in favor of other fighters. The last thing Top Rank needs is a fighter they have to protect with soft matchmaking to keep his head above water.

The two main fights on the June 7th Davis-De Los Santos card had already been leaked. So, today’s announcement by Top Rank merely confirms what hardcore boxing fans already knew.

Mason’s “Step Up”?

In the co-feature, lightweight Abdullah Mason (18-0, 16 KOs) fights Jeremia Nakathilia (26-4, 21 KOs) in a 10-rounder. This is supposed to be a step up for Mason, 21, but it’s more of a lateral move from the kind of opposition that he’s been facing.

Raymond Muratalla and Ernesto Mercado blew out the 35-year-old Nakathilia in two rounds. He was also soundly beaten by Shakur Stevenson. Nakathila has won his last three fights, albeit against low-level opposition.

Top Rank appears to be still wary of taking chances with Mason after watching him get dropped twice last November by Yohan Vasquez. That was a fight that showed what some had suspected about Abdullah. He has a chin problem and can’t take a punch. However, putting him in with Nakathilia does carry a certain amount of risk, as the veteran has equal power to Yohan, and if he catches Mason with anything hard, he’ll likely drop him.

The lightweight contender who was offered the fight against Abdullah, Floyd Schofield, wanted $2.5 million, which is the kind of money that challengers receive against popular world champions. Mason is neither.