The southpaw was far from impressive, however, in beating Peter Dobson by split decision in their 10-round welterweight fight at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Davis didn’t deliver the knockout he predicted and allowed Dobson to remain competitive on a card headlined by his younger brother, Keyshawn Davis, who will face Nahir Albright in the 12-round main event.

Judge Jim Ansbro scored eight rounds for the Bronx’s Dobson, who won 98-92 on his card. Judges Bill Clancy (99-91) and Brian Costello (97-93) scored nine and seven rounds, respectively, for the much taller Davis, who improved to 16-1 (8 KOs).

CompuBox counted more punches landed for Dobson (131 of 422) than Davis (109 of 301).

Davis, 29, lost a majority decision to Albright in his previous fight, also a 10-rounder, 11 months ago at Scope Arena.

He insisted his return to the ring would be different, but he wasn’t assertive during the second half of their fight after getting off to a solid start.

Davis occasionally connected with straight lefts, yet Dobson was more active and was the regular aggressor. Davis seemed content to try to pot-shot Dobson while working off his back foot.

The 36-year-old Dobson dropped to 17-4 (10 KOs). The New York City firefighter has lost four of his past five fights, each on points.

Dominican featherweight contender Yan Santana stayed undefeated thanks to a wider win over Cristian Cruz on two of the scorecards than he seemed to deserve in the 10-round bout before Davis’ victory.

Santana won a unanimous decision, but Cruz pushed him, despite that Santana entered the ring listed as a 14-1 favorite by several sportsbooks. Judge Jim Ansbro had it the closest, 96-94, but Brian Costello (97-93) and Bill Clancy (98-92) scored seven and eight rounds, respectively, for Santana (17-0, 13 KOs)

Tijuana’s Cruz (24-8-2, 12 KOs), the son of former IBF featherweight champ Cristobal Cruz, took Santana’s power well, fought off his front foot for much of their closely contested bout and landed almost as many punches overall. CompuBox credited Santana for connecting on 153 of 482 attempts, just five more than Cruz, who landed 148 of 553.

Santana is the WBO’s No. 7 contender for its 126-pound champ, Rafael Espinoza, and brashly spoke out knocking out WBC champ Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington before he encountered Cruz. Nothing about this performance indicated, however, that the 26-year-old Santana is ready to challenge those two unbeaten champions.

Santana went the 10-round distance for the third time in his past four fights. Cruz hasn’t been knocked out in 34 professional fights.

Keon Davis, Keyshawn’s younger brother, easily outboxed Edwine Humaine Jr. in the six-round junior middleweight match that preceded Santana’s victory.

The 6-foot-3 Davis’ eight-inch height advantage, superior skill and athleticism enabled him to consistently hit Humaine with various power punches. Judges Mark D’Atillio, Troyce Stamey and Paul Wallace all favored Davis’ combination punching, eye-catching right hands and regular body work, and credited the 24-year-old prospect with a 60-54 win.

Davis (5-0, 3 KOs) went the distance for the first time in four fights since the Norfolk native made his pro debut in November 2024. The Haitian-born Humaine (9-3, 7 KOs), of Springfield, Massachusetts, lost a third straight fight, all on points.

Humaine hit Davis with two right hands with just under a minute to go in the fourth round, but Davis prevented him from gaining any momentum by going on the offensive. Davis’ hard right snapped back Humaine’s head and knocked him into the ropes with about 10 seconds to go in the fourth.

Davis dominated the fifth and sixth rounds to ensure a shutout on the cards.

Junior lightweight prospect Dedrick Crocklem remained unbeaten by out-classing Eric Howard in the opening fight on the Davis-Albright undercard.

The 21-year-old Crocklem (7-0, 3 KOs), a southpaw from Tacoma, Washington, shut out Howard by the same score, 60-54, on the cards of D’Atillio, Stamey and Wallace. Crocklem couldn’t hurt Howard (7-5, 2 KOs), of Lutz, Florida, but he completely controlled the action with his jab and straight left hand and slipped most of his 36-year-old opponent’s punches.