NORFOLK, Virginia — Sampson Lewkowicz wasn't about to make the same mistake he believes Bill Haney made.

Lewkowicz could've accepted a hefty financial penalty Friday from Keyshawn Davis because the former WBO lightweight champion came in 4.3 pounds overweight. Edwin De Los Santos' promoter prioritized safety over money, though, and refused to allow his fighter to face Davis in a 12-round main event ESPN was scheduled to televise Saturday night from Scope Arena.

Lewkowicz recalled Devin Haney and his father/trainer/manager, Bill Haney, allowing Ryan Garcia to fight when he stepped on the New York State Athletic Commission's scale at 143.2 pounds, 3.2 above the contracted limit for their 12-round, 140-pound championship match in April 2024 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney stated that Garcia paid him the penalty they agreed upon — $500,000 per pound, a total of $1.5 million. Garcia was allowed to fight without attempting to lose more weight, however, which could’ve contributed to how well he performed the next night.

Garcia dropped Haney three times and beat him by majority decision. The result was changed to a no-contest because Garcia tested positive for Ostarine, a banned substance, but Lewkowicz claimed the damage was already done to Haney.

Lewkowicz called Davis missing weight by 4.3 pounds "unprofessional" and "crazy." That didn't initially prohibit him from negotiating with Davis' handlers, though he ultimately determined De Los Santos would take too much of a risk against an opponent who would've outweighed him by a large margin by the time the opening bell rang.

"I saw [Davis] dancing," Lewkowicz told The Ring of what he witnessed before the fighters stepped on the scale. "After 30 years, I know boxing and I know boxers. That’s when I realized that he never trained to fight at 135. He trained to fight at 140. And money doesn't buy health. I'm responsible for the health of my fighter and I would not allow him to fight.

"Maybe next week he'll ask me for a release [from his contract]. But I would not allow him, under my banner, to take a risk with a person that never trained to fight at 135. I thought about what happened with Haney and his father with Garcia. They took the money and you see the results."

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) clearly believed De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) would move forward with their fight in the immediate aftermath of missing weight. De Los Santos hasn't fought in 18 months and the challenger wasn't guaranteed to be paid his full purse if he didn't fight Saturday night.

"I'm pretty sure he'll still take the fight," Davis told Top Rank's Crystina Poncher on stage. "And the show must go on."

The show went on when Davis' opponent, Gustavo Lemos, was 6.4 pounds overweight for his last fight at Scope Arena on Nov. 8. Davis made Lemos meet second-day weigh-in restrictions, yet the weight advantage didn’t deter Davis from stopping the Argentinean contender in the second round.

"I was four pounds over," Davis said Friday. “Bro was like seven pounds over. That's like damn near 10. I didn't reach the next weight class. So, the show is still going to go on. ... We just gotta handle business."

Davis, 26, agreed to weigh no more than 149½ pounds at a second-day weigh-in Saturday morning before Lewkowicz pulled De Los Santos from their fight. Though they hadn't agreed on an acceptable penalty, Davis realized he would need to pay De Los Santos a substantial sum from his purse to fight as well.

As an act of good faith, Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc., Davis' promoter, will still pay De Los Santos his entire purse, believed to be approximately $400,000. Even if the Dominican southpaw walked away with a fraction of his full purse, Lewkowicz would've been more than comfortable with his decision.

"Money doesn't buy health," Lewkowicz said. "That is the reason I was happy to make a decision against the will of my fighter. And this needs to be an example for other promoters and managers, that they need to save their fighters from these risks."

Abdullah Mason (18-0, 16 KOs), another undefeated lightweight promoted by Top Rank, has taken Davis' spot in the main event. The 21-year-old southpaw from Cleveland, Ohio, will square off against Namibian veteran Jeremia Nakathila (26-4, 21 KOs) in a 10-rounder ESPN will televise.

Kelvin Davis (15-0, 8 KOs), Keyshawn's older brother, is set to box Nahir Albright (16-2, 7 KOs, 1 NC), of Sicklerville, New Jersey, in the 10-round co-feature. ESPN’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET in the United States and 3 a.m. GMT in the United Kingdom.