His first fight with Nahir Albright simply amounted to an off night, all the evidence Davis needed to stop smoking marijuana while training. A faster, sharper, stronger Davis beat Albright accordingly in their 12-round rematch, a junior welterweight bout the undefeated former WBO lightweight champ comfortably won by unanimous decision at Scope Arena in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.

Judges Mark D’Attilio (118-108), Troyce Stamey (118-108) and Paul Wallace (117-109) all scored their DAZN main event a wide win for Davis (15-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC), The Ring’s No. 3 junior welterweight contender for Shakur Stevenson’s title.

Albright (17-3, 7 KOs, 1 NC), of Sicklerville, New Jersey, fought favored Frank Martin (19-1-1, 13 KOs) to a unanimous draw in his previous fight February 21 in Las Vegas. He displayed toughness in taking Davis’ power, but Albright wasn’t nearly that competitive in his second fight versus Davis, who was a 16-1 favorite according to DraftKings.

“I felt good,” Davis told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in his post-fight interview. “You know, he a crafty fighter – he been around. You know what I’m saying? And I tried to go for the knockout. We all seen he was hurt. I just didn’t get it. But I got the decision. That’s all that matters.”

It was obvious by the time the 12th round began that Albright needed an unlikely knockout to win. Davis drilled Albright with a left hook, however, that showed he was the only one capable of winning by knockout with just under 1:50 left in their fight.

A fatigued, beaten Albright held and moved his way to the final bell, but a satisfied Davis taunted him after it sounded.

Davis unloaded an array of power punches on a battered Albright during the 11th round. He clearly wanted the late-round knockout he produced in his prior appearance, a 12th-round stoppage of Jamaine Ortiz on “The Ring 6” undercard January 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ortiz (20-3-1, 10 KOs) hadn’t been knocked out before he faced Davis. Albright withstood Davis’ onslaught, though, and still hasn’t been beaten inside the distance in 21 professional fights.

Davis built upon his lead in the ninth and 10th rounds, which he won pretty easily. Davis drilled Albright with a right hand that knocked him off balance a little less than a minute into the eighth round.

Davis fought aggressively in the sixth and seventh rounds, but their fight took an ugly turn in the seventh. A frustrated Davis body-slammed Albright to the canvas with 1:45 remaining in it because Davis believed his opponent kept grabbing him by his neck.

Walled took two points from Davis for a flagrant foul that could’ve injured Albright.

“He like to punch and hold,” Davis said. “That’s what he do. And just one time, he was just on my neck, so like I get angry sometimes. So, I just, I flipped him over.”

Davis landed a right hand, but Albright came back to blast Davis with a right of his own barely a minute into the fifth round. Davis tied him up after taking that shot and didn’t appear to be hurt.

“I felt like I was beating him up every round,” Davis said. “Like what really made me pick it up is he caught me with one good shot – I ain’t gonna lie. He caught me with one good shot and I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m about to beat you up now. You ain’t getting nothing else off.’ ”

Walled warned Davis for holding with just over a minute remaining in the fourth round. Davis argued that Albright initiated many of the clinches that marred the third and fourth rounds and tried to keep his hands free as the fourth round continued.

Davis unloaded a combination on Albright that made him reset his feet with about 30 seconds to go in the second round. Albright again allowed Davis to get off his punches without worrying much about what was coming back in his direction during those three minutes.

An aggressive Davis made Albright reluctant to engage during the first round. Albright intended to get off to a fast start, though Davis didn’t allow it.

Davis wanted higher-profile, more lucrative, meaningful fights, but a confluence of events led to him battling Albright again.

Albright upset Davis’ older brother, then-unbeaten junior welterweight Kelvin Davis, by majority decision June 7 at Scope Arena. Albright informed assembled media during his post-fight press conference that night Keyshawn Davis and his younger brother, junior middleweight prospect Keon Davis, confronted him in his locker room and caused an altercation, which left Albright with a visible abrasion on his face.

The incident worsened what was already an awful weekend for Keyshawn Davis.

The 2021 Olympic silver medalist was scheduled to make his first defense of the WBO lightweight title against Edwin De Los Santos in the 12-round main event June 7. Davis came in 4.3 pounds overweight the previous day, which led Sampson Lewkowicz, then De Los Santos’ promoter, to pull the challenger out of their bout because he thought the weight disadvantage was unsafe for De Los Santos.

The WBO immediately stripped Davis of its 135-pound championship.

Keyshawn Davis defeated Albright by majority decision 19 months earlier at Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. Davis beat Albright on the cards of judges Robert Hoyle (96-94) and David Sutherland (97-93), but judge John Basile scored their fight a draw, 95-95.

The Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation changed the official result of their 10-rounder to a no-contest because Davis tested positive for marijuana, which remains a banned substance for boxers who compete in that state.

“Honestly, that was 2023,” Davis said after beating Albright more convincingly in their rematch. “I don’t really remember that fight. I just remember those crazy scorecards, but they got it right this time.”