Keyshawn Davis has informed the WBO that he will not proceed with his mandated shot at welterweight champion Devin Haney — a fight that would’ve earned Davis more than $2 million.
Uncrowned confirmed the news with WBO president Gustavo Olivieri on Friday.
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The WBO officially ordered Haney to defend his belt against former lightweight titlist Davis in June. The parties were ultimately unable to reach a deal, and so a purse bid hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
Haney signed a multi-fight deal with broadcaster DAZN earlier this month. His portion of the deal to battle Davis was agreed with Davis’ promoter, Top Rank. Top Rank, however, could not reach a deal with its own fighter, Davis, which is a rare scenario, and so purse bids were necessary.
Top Rank ultimately won Thursday’s auction with an $8,550,000 bid — $6,200,000 greater than the only other bidder, Teofimo Lopez’s Takeover Promotions, which offered $2,350,000 for the rights to the bout.
Top Rank’s proposed date for the bout was Oct. 3, with potential venues of Barclays Center in New York, State Farm Arena in Atlanta and Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The fight would’ve headlined a DAZN pay-per-view event.
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Haney, as defending champion, was entitled to 75% of the pot, or $6,412,500, while Davis would’ve pocketed 25%, or $2,137,500.
As is the case with all purse bids, though, the purses in the auction were not necessarily final, and Haney was expected to make more for the bout should it have gone ahead because of his arrangement with DAZN.
Davis, however, was not satisfied with his financial deal for the fight. It is thought that Davis was offered more money than he would’ve made following the purse bid offer during negotiations for the bout, but he rejected those offers.
With the majority of major promoters aligned on DAZN, and the platform backing Top Rank at the purse bid, it wasn’t much of a surprise that there was no other bidder.
Haney, Davis, and the boxing world are now all left without what would’ve been a major fight.
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