Former lightweight title holder Keyshawn Davis has officially ducked Devin Haney. Days after a WBO purse bid resulted in an offer that would have paid Davis $2,137,500 to challenge for Haney's WBO welterweight title, the WBO announced that Davis had changed his mind. "The WBO received written notice that Keyshawn Davis has declined the purse bid adjudication and will not participate in the ordered championship contest against Devin Haney. The matter will now be referred to the WBO Championship Committee and Ratings Committee for the appropriate ruling under the WBO World Championship Rules and Regulations."

 

Davis' own promoter, Top Rank submitted the winning bid of $8,550,000 and announced the fight would take place on October 3rd at one of the following three locations: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the State Farm Arena in Atlanta or the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.Under the WBO's 75/25 purse split, Haney was set to receive $6,412,500 with the balance going to Davis. 

 

Bill Haney, father and trainer of Devin tweeted, "I just spoke with WBO president Gustavo Olivieri. He told me Keyshawn Davis and [his manager] J Prince called him and set this whole thing up. So that story about the kid not knowing what he was getting into, or what was going on, is far from the truth."