Keyshawn Davis is facing a whirlwind of backlash after what happened in Friday’s final weigh-ins. ‘The Businessman’ was supposed to fight Edwin De Los Santos in his hometown of Norfolk in his first-ever world title defense of his WBO championship belt, but the fight ended up getting canceled after he missed weight by 4.3 pounds, well over the 135-pound limit. And this has proven costly!

He not only lost out on a payday, but the WBO, as a result, also stripped him of his lightweight strap. Though attempts were made to salvage the fight by increasing the weight limit and offering De Los Santos more money, the two camps could not come to an agreement. And now, a cruiserweight champion has lashed out at Davis for the apparent lack of respect for the rules.

Jai Opetaia appeared in an interview with ‘Jai McAllister: BOXING & MMA’ hours after the news about Davis’ weigh-in debacle broke. When asked about his thoughts on Davis’ situation, the IBF cruiserweight champion seemed disappointed and almost disgusted by Davis’ actions. “I reckon that’s bulls**t, bro,” he said.

“Coming in, not making weight like that, especially if the other guy’s really draining themselves and then you’re just not even taking, that’s a joke, it’s disrespectful to the sport,” the undefeated Australian boxer told the media. As even Davis’ promoter Bob Arum admitted, Keyshawn Davis did not look particularly dehydrated for someone trying to make weight. When pressed about what the consequences should be for his action, Opetaia stated, “I don’t know what the consequences should be, but that’s just very unfair.”

Speaking of unfair, even though the fight is canceled, The Ring has confirmed that Bob Arum will pay De Los Santos the money he would have made from the fight. Sources say it’s approximately $400,000. Arum also seemed frustrated about his own fighter, who he believed didn’t want to make weight for the fight.

“You can tell if a guy is trying to make weight and just can’t,’’ Arum told veteran journalist Dan Rafael. “You can see that he’s dehydrated. That wasn’t the case with Keyshawn. He never really tried to make 135. That’s my view of what happened.” Regardless, the question is, what does the 26-year-old have to say about his missed weight?

Keyshawn Davis claims he outgrew the lightweight division

The Norfolk native was supposed to defend his title for the first time, and it was his second main event fight since he defeated fellow Olympic silver medalist Denys Berinchyk. With the mishap, it will put a damper on his rise to the top of the lightweight division. But what really caused him to miss weight when he has done the same easily in the past?

“I [have] been making this weight for over four years now. I just outgrew the weight,” Davis told the media. “I tried, I was up late last night. I woke up early this morning, trying to make the weight. I just outgrew the weight. I was feeling it the last time I was fighting [Denys] Berinchyk. I thank God that I made it. Y’all don’t know how I was feel[ing] making it. But hey, it is what it is.”

That being said, Keyshawn Davis doesn’t appear to be that troubled about missing weight for his upcoming title defense. However, the likes of Jai Opetaia and his own promoter don’t seem too happy about the mishap. How do you feel about all this?