When is Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos?

Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos is on Saturday, June 7. The main broadcast begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (3 a.m. BST). A preliminary stream begins at 5:10 p.m. ET (10:10 p.m. BST).

Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos will air on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. 

Where is Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos?

Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos is taking place at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

Who is Keyshawn Davis?

Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), won Olympic silver at lightweight in 2021, has been featured prominently as he developed from a prospect toward title contention, and fulfilled those lofty expectations in February, when he knocked out Denys Berinchyk to capture the WBO belt at 135lbs.

For his first defense, the 26-year-old Davis will be returning to Scope Arena in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, where he performed last November with a two-round obliteration of the 29-1 Gustavo Lemos. That was particularly impressive as Lemos came in rather overweight and was coming off a debatable decision loss to Richardson Hitchins.

Davis’ fellow lightweight titleholders are Vasiliy Lomachenko (IBF), Gervonta Davis (WBA), Shakur Stevenson (WBC). Lomachenko might retire, which would lead to the elevation of interim IBF titleholder Raymond Muratalla, who like Keyshawn Davis is promoted by Top Rank. Gervonta Davis is expected to have his rematch with Lamont Roach Jnr on August 16. Stevenson will face unbeaten contender William Zepeda on July 12, though Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis are friends who have said they will not fight each other.

One fighter who has been calling for a fight with Keyshawn Davis is the man who defeated him in the Olympics: Andy Cruz, who turned pro later than Davis and is 5-0 (2 KOs). Cruz is scheduled to face Hironori Mishiro, 17-1-1 (6 KOs), on the undercard of Hitchins vs. George Kambosos Jnr on June 14. Cruz-Mishiro is an IBF elimination bout, positioning the winner to challenge either Lomachenko or Muratalla.

Davis has been saying publicly that it’s too early for a fight with Cruz. His top-rated contenders in the WBO rankings are Sam Noakes, 17-0 (15 KOs), and another Top Rank lightweight, Abdullah Mason, 18-0 (16 KOs), who will be performing in the co-feature to Davis-De Los Santos.

Who is Edwin De Los Santos?

This will be the second title shot for De Los Santos, 16-2 (14 KOs), a 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic. He lost a unanimous decision to Stevenson in a November 2023 bout for the vacant WBC belt. That was a dreadful watch, given that both fighters combined to land just 33 power punches over the course of 12 rounds. 

De Los Santos does have a few good wins on his ledger, putting together a nice run after suffering his first pro defeat – a split decision loss in early 2022 to the 13-0 William Foster down at junior lightweight. De Los Santos returned to 135lbs, knocked out the 12-0 Luis Acosta in two rounds, stopped Jose Valenzuela in three rounds (Valenzuela went on to win a title at 140lbs), and widely outpointed the 17-2-2 Joseph Adorno.

It has been more than a year and a half since De Los Santos last fought. He says the time off after the Stevenson loss has been good for him. But in Davis, he will be in against a titleholder who has been much more active.

What other fights are on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos?

In the co-feature, the aforementioned Abdullah Mason will take on Jeremia Nakathila, 26-4 (21 KOs). This is Mason’s third fight since his dramatic two-round battle with Yohan Vasquez on the undercard of Davis-Lemos, in which Mason was dropped twice in the first round but stopped Vasquez in the second. Mason is still a prospect, but this bout with Nakathila can be considered a step up as he continues to grow into a contender.

Nakathila was shut out by Stevenson in 2021, stopped former titleholder Miguel Berchelt in 2022, and suffered a pair of second-round losses to Raymond Muratalla and Ernesto Mercado in 2023. Nakathila scored three wins in 2024, including a first-round TKO of the 5-1 Tafadzwa Mushando in November.

The preliminary undercard will feature several prospects, including both of Davis’ fighting brothers. 

Older brother Kelvin Davis, 28, is a junior welterweight with a record of 15-0 (8 KOs). He will face Nahir Albright, last seen losing a majority decision to Keyshawn in October 2023, though that result was overturned when Keyshawn tested positive for marijuana.

Younger brother Keon Davis, 23, is a welterweight with a record of 3-0 (2 KOs). He will fight Michael A. Velez-Garcia, who is also 3-0 (2 KOs).

Other fighters on the stream include middleweight Troy Isley, 14-0 (5 KOs), against Etoundi Michel William, 16-1 (12 KOs); welterweight Delante “Tiger” Johnson, 15-0 (7 KOs), against Janelson Figueroa Bocachica, 17-3-1 (11 KOs); and middleweight Euri Cedeno, 11-0-1 (10 KOs), against Abel Mina, 18-3-1 (9 KOs).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.