Bob Arum has offered his honest assessment amid accusations that Keyshawn Davis ‘ducked’ his WBO world title opportunity against Devin Haney.

The pair were ordered to collide for Haney’s welterweight belt, with Arum’s Top Rank actively pursuing a deal for its fighter, Davis, to secure his shot at becoming a two-weight world champion.

Despite having never fought at 147lbs, the American did claim the WBO lightweight title by dethroning Denys Berinchyk with a fourth-round stoppage last year.

Rather perplexingly, he was then named as the WBO mandatory challenger at 147lbs after exceeding the 140lb limit against Nahir Albright, who he unanimously outpointed in May.

This therefore positioned him for a stab at Haney’s belt, only for Davis to reject a reported $3m deal that was proposed by Top Rank.

As a result, their contest went to a WBO purse bid hearing, with Top Rank trumping Teofimo Lopez’ Takeover Promotions with a sum of $8.55m.

This would have seen Davis pocket a total of $2.14m, as per the sanctioning bodies’ policy of a 75/25 split in favour of the champion.

The self-proclaimed ‘Businessman’ ultimately withdrew himself from the fighthowever, with veteran promoter Arum subsequently telling Dan Rafael that he was left baffled by the whole saga.

“Listen, I’m an old man. I don’t know what the thinking is. I don’t have any goddamn idea. We went out and tried to make this fight for him because he shot his mouth off that this was the fight he wanted. And when we made the fight, he doesn’t want it.”

Following the Davis debacle, Haney is now searching for a new opponent after having not fought since his title-winning performance against Brian Norman Jr in November.

The footage was difficult to watch, but World Boxing News chose to let the dust settle before revisiting an incident that could easily have ended far worse for former British champion Samuel Antwi.

Everybody made the story about the referee, and understandably so. However, there was another side to what unfolded in Lagos that also deserved recognition.

To even get back to his feet after the knockdown took remarkable courage.

Antwi somehow beat the count despite appearing badly hurt, only to absorb another barrage of punches before the fight was finally stopped.

Samuel Antwi vs Suleiman Jafaru

The former British super welterweight champion suffered a sixth-round stoppage defeat to Suleiman Jafaru on the ‘Chaos in the Ring‘ card at the Balmoral Convention Center in Lagos, Nigeria.

After being caught by a stiff jab, Antwi’s legs visibly buckled before Jafaru unleashed a series of punches that sent him crashing to the canvas.

Antwi somehow climbed back to his feet.

However, the video showed the Londoner on unsteady legs as referee Constance Chinagorom allowed the contest to continue.

Jafaru immediately resumed his attack, landing another ten unanswered punches before the referee finally stepped in to wave the fight off. Antwi’s corner also reacted late with the towel.

The sequence left serious questions over whether Antwi should have been allowed to continue.

Protection First

Referees are in the ring first and foremost to protect fighters.

Antwi’s bravery in forcing himself back to his feet cannot be questioned. Neither can the courage it took to continue trying to defend himself after such a punishing knockdown.

However, bravery and fighter safety are two very different things.

Once Antwi returned to his feet on unsteady legs, the referee had a responsibility to decide whether he was capable of continuing safely. Allowing another sustained barrage of punches inevitably shifted the focus onto the officiating rather than Jafaru’s impressive victory.

Thankfully, Antwi later reassured supporters that he had come through the contest safely.

“In both victory and defeat, all glory to God,” Antwi wrote.

“Lord, I thank you for the strength to step into the ring.

“Though the outcome was not what I hoped for, I trust that you have a greater plan for me.

“Thank you that both my opponent and I walked out of the ring safely.”

Those were the best words to come out of the night. The outcome could easily have been very different.

About the Author

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.

Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.

Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali are without doubt the most iconic heavyweight fighters of all time, but if the pair were to meet in their primes, four-division world champion Shakur Stevenson believes he knows who would come out on top.

Ali ruled as a three-time world champion, with his reigns spanning across a 15-year spell when the heavyweight division was arguably at it’s best; besting the likes of George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston during his time in the ring.

As a result, Ali is understandably referred to as ‘The Greatest’, but his prime is something which is less discussed, given the fact that he was absent from action between the ages of 25 and 28 years old – a period which would likely have been his best years in the ring.

Meanwhile, Tyson is rarely referred to as a ‘greater’ fighter than Ali, but the way in which he ferociously tore through the heavyweight division during the late 1980s make a showdown with a ‘prime’ Ali one of the most difficult and intimidating propositions in boxing history.

Still, speaking on the Ball in the Family PodcastStevenson admitted that he would lean toward Ali in any fantasy fight between ‘The Louisville Lip’ and ‘Iron’ Mike, due to the fact that Tyson himself has admitted that Ali would have defeated him.

“Ali [would win]. The only reason why I say Ali is because Tyson said that Ali would beat him.”

Tyson was quizzed on how a clash between he and Ali would have played out back in 2020, conceding that ‘he wouldn’t win a real fight’ and that ‘Ali is the greatest that there has ever been’.