Keyshawn Davis’ long-awaited homecoming fight has been thrown off course, overshadowed by his opponent Gustavo Lemos’ failure to make weight.
At today’s weigh-in Lemos tipped the scales at 141.4lbs, a full six pounds over the lightweight limit. Davis, 25, who weighed in at 134.2lbs, shrugged off the incident. “Oh, I was happy,” Davis said after the weigh-in. “I know I’m going to get paid more money. The show must go on.”
The 10-round fight will proceed as planned tomorrow at Scope Arena on ESPN+, though Lemos’ weight miss has raised questions and shifted focus. Davis, a 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, was slated to headline in his Norfolk hometown as a budding American star. Instead, the narrative has turned to Lemos’ struggles with the scale. Lemos, 28, from Argentina, simply explained to Top Rank’s Crystina Poncher, “I just got overconfident and didn’t make the weight.” He said via translator, “Look, I came to fight, and we are going to have to continue,” exiting the stage to a round of boos.
Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) is coming off a controversial unanimous decision loss to Richardson Hitchins and last made weight for a lightweight fight in March 2022, when he knocked out Lee Selby. His last two fights were at junior welterweight, with his weigh-in weight against Hitchins recorded at 138.5lbs in April.
Davis, 11-0 (7 KOs), enters tomorrow seeking his third win of 2024, following a stoppage of former two-division champion Jose Pedraza in February and a unanimous decision over Miguel Madueno. It will be Davis’ first time headlining a major event and doing so in his hometown of Norfolk.
In the co-feature, unbeaten middleweight Troy Isley, also a 2020 U.S. Olympian, will face Tyler Howard of Crossville, Tennessee in a 10-round fight. Isley, 26, who weighed in at 158.9lbs, appears preparing to make the championship weight of 160lbs or under. Howard, 30, came in at 159.8lbs. The two engaged in a fiery face-off, trading words.
“The crowd can’t fight for him,” Howard said amid the boos from Norfolk fans. “He’s got to step in the ring with me tomorrow. This is all a show right now, and I’m not worried about it.”
“Everybody keeps sleeping on me, and I’m tired of that,” said Isley, 13-0 (5 KOs), who considers the Norfolk area a second home. “This is basically home, this is a hometown fight for me.”
Full weigh-in results below:
Lightweight - 10 rounds
Keyshawn Davis, (134.2lbs) vs. Gustavo Lemos, (141.4lbs)
Middleweight - 10 rounds
Troy Isley, (158.9lbs) vs. Tyler Howard, (159.8lbs)
Lightweight - eight rounds
Abdullah Mason (135.7lbs) vs. Yohan Vasquez, (134.2lbs)
Junior welterweight - eight rounds
Kelvin Davis (142.5lbs) vs. Yeis Solano, (142.7lbs)
Middleweight - eight rounds
Austin Deanda, (158.3lbs) vs. DeAundre Pettus, (159.9lbs)
Junior middleweight - four rounds
Keon Davis (148.7lbs) vs. Jalen Moore, (150.4lbs)
Junior lightweight - six rounds
Robert Meriwether III (131.7lbs) vs. Eric Howard, (131.4lbs)
Featherweight - 10 rounds
Ra'eese Aleem, (126.9lbs) vs. Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo, (126.9lbs)
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