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), The Ring’s No. 3 junior welterweight contender for Shakur Stevenson’s title.

Albright (17-3, 7 KOs), 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 this time. Davis was a 16-1 favorite according to DraftKings.

“I felt good,” Davis told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in his post-fight interview. “He a crafty fighter. He been around. 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 him with a left hook, however, that showed he was the only one capable of winning by knockout with just under 1:50 left.

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. 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 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.

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

Davis fought aggressively in the sixth and seventh rounds, but the fight took an ugly turn. He body-slammed Albright to the canvas with 1:45 remaining in the seventh because he was frustrated about being held by his neck.

Davis lost two points for the 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 flipped him over.”

Davis landed a right hand, but Albright came back to blast him 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. “What really made me pick it up is he caught me with one good shot. ... 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.'"

The referee warned Davis for holding with just over a minute remaining in the fourth round. He argued that Albright initiated many of the clinches that also marred the third.

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

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

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

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

The 2021 Olympic silver medalist was scheduled to make his first defense of the WBO lightweight title against Edwin De Los Santos in the main event. 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.

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

He'd already defeated Albright by majority decision 19 months earlier in Rosenberg, Texas, after judges Robert Hoyle (96-94) and David Sutherland (97-93) scored it for Davids. John Basile scored it 95-95.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation changed the official result of the 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.”