Richardson Hitchins says Keyshawn Davis fight is off, claims Davis asked for $6 million

Richardson Hitchins says his long-discussed welterweight fight with fellow unbeaten American Keyshawn Davis is off. In a post on X on Friday, October 23, 2026, Hitchins claimed Davis priced himself out of the bout by asking for $6 million.

"Keyshawn out priced himself to fight me. Like I said, I been agreed to the fight going on 2 months, I was wondering what was the hold up, but he was asking for 6ms to fight me. And mind you, boy never even made more than a M in boxing," Hitchins wrote, adding the hashtag #FIGHTOFF and tagging Zuffa Boxing. He also called Davis "a clown".

Minutes later, Hitchins posted again, apparently referring to Davis's earlier December fight graphic, and said none of it had ever been official.

The $6 million figure comes only from Hitchins. As of publication, Davis had not responded publicly, and there was no statement from Zuffa Boxing or either fighter's team.

What we know

• Confirmed: Hitchins says the fight is off and blames Davis's purse demand.
• Not confirmed: the $6 million figure and whether talks have fully ended. Neither Davis nor a promoter has commented.
• Never confirmed: the fight was never officially announced, and no date, venue or card was ever confirmed.

How we got here

The Ring's Mike Coppinger first reported in September that the two camps were in advanced talks for a welterweight bout later this year. Speaking to FightHype at the time, Hitchins called it "a 50-50 fight" and "a megafight", and said "the winner of this fight should be on the pound-for-pound list".

The bout was widely linked to the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua card on December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, which will stream on Netflix. According to reports in early October, Zuffa Boxing CEO Dana White said the matchup was "more than likely", but nothing was signed. Hitchins reportedly wanted the purse that had been discussed for an earlier version of the fight at Madison Square Garden.

On October 13, Davis posted on social media: "Buddy finally accepted the fight... this fight in December, this sh-t personal." Hitchins answered that he had accepted "over a month ago" and was still waiting for a contract: "time is [expletive] ticking Keyshawn."

A familiar pattern

This is not the first time money has stopped the fight. Late last year, the two were in line to meet on The Ring's Madison Square Garden card on January 31. Tim Bradley said on his YouTube channel that Davis wanted no less than $2 million and Hitchins no less than $2.5 million, and the fight fell through. Hitchins fought Jamaine Ortiz on that card instead.

Davis's business decisions have been criticised before. After the WBO ordered him to face welterweight champion Devin Haney as mandatory challenger on June 30, Top Rank won the purse bid at $8.55 million. Davis then told the sanctioning body he was no longer interested, The Ring reported. He would have been entitled to $2,137,500, a career-high payday. Haney has since signed with DAZN and is reportedly heading towards a December unification with IBF champion Liam Paro.

The fighters

Hitchins (21-0, 8 KOs), 29, is a former IBF junior welterweight champion. He vacated that title to move up to 147 lbs, then beat Ricardo Salas by wide unanimous decision in his welterweight debut on July 26. Davis (15-0, 10 KOs), 27, from Norfolk, Virginia, is a 2020 Olympic silver medallist and former WBO lightweight champion who has yet to fight at welterweight.

It is not yet clear what either man does next. Hitchins is aligned with Zuffa Boxing, while Davis does not have a confirmed fight.