Keyshawn Davis felt lost.

The hometown meltdown that ensued was stunning because the unbeaten WBO lightweight champion found himself on the cusp of stardom. A 2021 Olympic silver medalist, he had just demolished Denys Berinchyk to win a world title and was preparing to headline in Norfolk, Virginia, for the second time in seven months.

Another capacity crowd was expected at Scope Arena — the same venue Norfolk’s favorite son, Pernell Whitaker, sold out many times before Davis was born. The talented, talkative Davis was on the verge of becoming everything he and his promoter, Bob Arum, assured the boxing world was his destiny.

When the cameras came on, “The Businessman” brashly sold his optional title defense against dangerous Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos on June 7.

Behind closed doors, Davis suffered in silence.

Self-destructive, he didn’t alert anyone that he was way overweight until he reached the stage June 6 at Norfolk Waterside Marriott. He came in 4.3 pounds above the lightweight limit of 135.

De Los Santos was willing to fight Davis anyway, but his promoter prevented a main event ESPN was scheduled to televise from moving forward. Sampson Lewkowicz was worried Davis’ weight advantage was too dangerous for a challenger who made the physical sacrifices to meet his contractual obligation.

Davis didn’t just lose his title and the leverage it afforded him at the scale. He cost himself a seven-figure purse and respect among some supporters in and around Norfolk who were bothered by his lack of professionalism.

Agitated, Davis made matters worse the next night, when he got into an altercation with one of his former opponents, Nahir Albright, inside his locker room. The incident occurred after Albright beat Davis’ older brother, Kelvin, by majority decision on the card he was supposed to be headlining.

“I was lost long before June even came upon us,” Davis told The Ring. “My therapy literally was fighting in that ring. And I just kept telling myself, ‘As long as I can get to that ring and fight, I'm a be OK.’ And I was wrong. June was my last straw and I didn’t get to the ring. So, since that happened, I really had to pray to God, take accountability and then move forward. Ever since I started moving forward, it was no stopping me. And now I’m on this card January 31st, one of the biggest cards of the year.”

Davis revealed to Hall-of-Fame fighters Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr. during a recent “All The Smoke Fight” podcast appearance that he drank alcohol “every single day” while training to fight De Los Santos. That was a significant factor in missing weight 19 months after his majority-decision victory over Albright was changed to a no-contest because Davis tested positive for marijuana, a substance banned by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation.

Davis declined to discuss during this interview with The Ring how he addressed drinking during his last training camp or any therapy he might’ve subsequently sought to work on his mental health.

“I spoke on my personal life enough, really,” he said. “I’m not gonna answer that question. Just know that I’m back and better.”

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) changed much of his team after his career came undone in Norfolk.

He parted ways with head trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and his assistants, the group that guided Terence Crawford throughout the retired five-division champion’s career.

Randell Trumell Johnson, a previous presence in Davis’ career, trained him for Saturday night against Jamaine Ortiz at Madison Square Garden in New York. Davis prepared in Las Vegas, alongside his close friend Shakur Stevenson, a three-division champ who will challenge Ring/WBO junior welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez in the main event of “The Ring 6” card.

DAZN will distribute the show on pay-per-view to non-subscribers ($69.99 United States; £24.99 United Kingdom) and subscribers to the streaming service’s monthly Ultimate plan ($44.99 U.S.; £24.99 UK).

Davis also hired James Prince and Josh Dubin as his co-managers. He is still promoted by Arum’s company, Top Rank Inc., which was planning to have Davis headline a card, perhaps in Norfolk, sometime in February before his handlers were approached about opposing Ortiz in a 12-round co-feature.

“Everybody knows about Madison Square Garden,” Davis said. “That’s the most famous arena probably in the world, in America for sure. I’m blessed that I’m even on this card, that I got this opportunity, especially from what I’m coming off of. It’s really unheard of. And also, how I got on this card was so out of nowhere, so again, I’m blessed."

This is a high-profile opportunity Davis certainly couldn’t turn down, despite the challenge Ortiz presents. The diverse, durable, technically sound Ortiz (20-2-1, 10 KOs), of Worcester, Massachusetts, is a live underdog who gave Vasiliy Lomachenko (2022) and Lopez (2024) difficulty during his only losses via 12-round unanimous decisions.

“I don’t think he had a choice,” Ortiz told The Ring. “I think it was either, ‘You get this opportunity to fight on this card and more potential opportunities in the future with The Ring Magazine and stuff like that, or you’re off the card.’ I think that’s how it went down.”

Regardless, Davis can re-establish some of the momentum he had following back-to-back knockouts of Ukraine’s Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs) and Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos (30-2, 20 KOs) with an impressive victory over Ortiz in his junior welterweight debut.

“To take Jamaine Ortiz as your first fight back shows how dedicated and serious he is about getting back to the level he was at inside the ring and outside the ring, as truly one of the sport’s rising stars,” Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s vice president of boxing operations, said to The Ring. “He made a mistake, for which he has paid dearly and deeply regrets. Let’s all move on from it. Too often in today’s world, especially with social media, we over-criticize instead of supporting these young athletes in difficult times.”

If Davis defeats Ortiz, there are plenty of intriguing fights for him at 140. He and Stevenson have agreed they’ll never square off, but Davis and Richardson Hitchins have had heated exchanges on social media and in person.

Brooklyn’s Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) is expected to defend his IBF belt against Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs) on “The Ring: High Stakes” card, which will feature WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios versus Ryan Garcia in the main event February 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“Me getting a stoppage, me knocking Jamaine Ortiz out, that’s my plan for the year so far,” Davis said. “Me just doing that right there is gonna take me to the next level of stardom. But also, it’s gonna take me to the next level in the boxing world. I’m trying to get on that pound-for-pound list this year and stay up there. And I feel like this is the start of that right here.”