- Keyshawn Davis weighs 140.2lbs, then 140.1lbs stripped, then 140 on the nose after the towel-room trip — the man is still wrestling with the limit
- Nahir Albright was straight on the mark with no drama, looking dry and ready 24 hours out
- Last time these two met Davis lost the result on the scales when he came in too heavy — and that demon clearly has not gone away
The Same Old Problem In A New Shirt
Right, let's not beat around the bush. Keyshawn Davis is a brilliant fighter. The Businessman is one of the most talented operators at 140 in world boxing, and he is going to throttle people for the next few years. But he keeps doing this. He keeps making the scales look like a fight he is just about winning.
This morning at the official: 140.2. Off comes the lot — and we are at 140.1. A trip away, hot towel, jog round the back, and back on at 140 flat. The WBO accepted it. The fight is on. But the storyline is now in two halves and Davis has done it to himself again.
Albright Hit The Number First Time, No Faff
Nahir Albright came in dry, walked up, hit the number, walked back off. No drama, no sweat suits in the corridor, no negotiation. That is the kind of thing that will be in Davis's head when the bell goes — Albright is the fresher man tonight no matter what either camp says publicly.
Albright also has the moral memory of the first fight, which is doing his head no harm at all. That one was a tactical, awkward affair and Davis was not happy with the verdict, however the cards read. He has had nine months to stew on it. Tonight is his rebuttal.
What This Means For Saturday
If you have been watching boxing for any length of time you know what happens when one man loses a fight at the scales. The hangover is real. The legs go in round five. The output drops in round seven. Davis is conditioned brilliantly and he carries his fluid back well, but he has done this to himself once already at 135 and lost a belt over it — there is no version of this where his body is not paying for that last hour by 10pm tonight.
Albright knows exactly what he has to do. Move him. Frustrate him. Make him reach. Take it into the second half of the fight. If he does that and stays disciplined, this is a fight he can win on a card or steal late.
The Pick
Make no mistake — Davis is still the favourite, and rightly so. I have him taking it on the cards by something like 116-112 or thereabouts, because he is the levels-above operator in the gym and the bell still goes. But the chance of Albright making this a proper twelve-round mess just went up sharply.
The bigger question — and the one Top Rank and DAZN should be sweating over — is what happens to The Businessman's career arc at 140 if this is what every weigh-in looks like. He will have to go to 147 at some point, and that is not a comfortable thought either. For tonight though, get the popcorn — there is a serious fight here and we are watching live from Norfolk.