Keyshawn Davis did not knock down his mortal enemy, but he has put Nahir Albright in his rearview mirror.
The No. 1-ranked WBO 140lbs contender remained unbeaten Saturday in Top Rank’s debut DAZN card at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, cruising to a unanimous-decision victory over Albright by scores of 117-109, 118-108, 118-108.
Nearly a year after the unfortunate events of losing his WBO lightweight belt on the scales, then engaging in a backstage scuffle with Albright after he beat Davis’ brother, Kelvin, at the same venue, Keyshawn improved to 15-0 (10 KOs).
“I felt amazing. He’s a crafty fighter, he’s been around. I got the decision, that’s all that matters,” Davis said afterward.
Davis could pursue the vacant IBF 140lbs title shot at Lindolfo Delgado or greater welterweight fights, saying, “I’ll probably go to 147 [after] all this making weight stuff,” after being 0.1lbs over on his first weight check Friday.
Davis began aggressively, landing power shots on his rival to assert control.
An effective jab allowed Davis to follow with his choice of body or head shot, leaving Albright, 17-3-1 (7 KOs), puzzled and tentative.
When Albright finally tried to come forward in the third, he got the worse of the exchange.
Some of the bitterness of their past feud seemed to surface when Davis sent Albright to the ropes and pressed into him assertively.
The fact that Davis was riding a streak of three consecutive knockouts made it appear he was seeking the end here, too, but Albright answered in the fifth with a hard right hand that stood at that point as the best punch of the night.
“He hit me with one good shot,” Davis said.
Davis responded with forceful aggression that backed Albright and zapped his momentum.
“You’re throwing one, he’s throwing three,” an Albright cornerman told him between rounds. “That math don’t add up.”
Yet, Davis suffered a two-point deduction for picking up Albright and throwing him to the canvas in the seventh round on Albright’s right shoulder.
“I get angry sometimes, so I flipped him over,” Davis said after the fight.
“Don’t do anything stupid. This [referee] will disqualify you,” a cornerman advised Davis after the incident.
Davis came back to assert control in the eighth.
Albright would employ savvy holding tactics to bother Davis, wasting time and muting Davis’ interest in delivering an extended attack.
Davis went after the knockout in the 11th, battering Albright, who held just enough to remain on his feet.
Albright looked hurt in the 12th, and kept an icepack on his head as the scorecards were read.
In undercard action, former welterweight champion Brian Norman Jnr impressively returned from his November title loss to Devin Haney by destructively finishing Josh Wagner by second-round knockout.
“The mother-fuckin’ assassin is back, mother fucker,” Norman said in reference to his nickname.
Georgia’s Norman, 29-1 (23 KOs), knocked out Wagner 1:24 into the second after earlier dropping him in the round.
Still ranked by three sanctioning bodies, Norman says he’s open to any top contender after aligning with new trainer Ronnie Shields.



