The next challenger for recently minted WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis has surfaced.

Sampson Boxing chief Sampson Lewkowicz said ongoing deals and discussions with rival promoter Top Rank led Edwin De Los Santos, the lightweight contender he promotes, to emerge as Davis’ most worthy challenger.

“We have a very good relationship with Top Rank,” Lewkowicz told the media on Saturday. “A couple of my fighters will fight. We had no problem making the [Naoya Inoue vs. Ramon Cardenas on May 4]. So this is one. Now comes Edwin De Los Santos with Davis. God willing. We hope. We are almost ready. There will be no issue to make a fight with [Xander] Zayas [versus Sebastian Fundora]. The only thing is, [things in] boxing change not every day, but every minute.”

De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) has been idle since his November 2023 snoozer and unanimous decision loss against Shakur Stevenson for the vacant WBC lightweight title. The fight headlined a Top Rank show in Las Vegas on Formula 1 weekend, and De Los Santos’ 40 landed punches were the fewest ever in a 12-round fight at the time in CompuBox history. Stevenson landed just 65 punches in the fight, as he was dealing with a shoulder injury.

The best win of the 25-year-old Dominican De Los Santos’ career came against then-undefeated upstart Jose Valenzuela in a third-round stoppage in 2022. De Los Santos is ranked No. 13 by the WBO and is not currently rated in the top 10 at 135 pounds by The Ring.

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs), a 2020 United States Olympics silver medalist, last fought in February and knocked out Denys Berinchyk inside four rounds in his first world title fight.

Davis had a standout 2024 campaign knocking out Jose Pedraza and Gustavo Lemos and notching a dominant decision win against Miguel Madueno.