“I don’t know what his next opportunity is. From what I’m told, Top Rank doesn’t owe him a fight again until May 2027. What they can do now is follow the letter of the law in the contract, offer him his minimums, have him fight Brian Norman Jr. or Tiger Johnson or some of these guys they’ve got on their stable. If this doesn’t happen, I would be surprised if we see Keyshawn Davis in the ring before the end of the year. That’s a wasted year for Keyshawn Davis,” Mannix said on Boxing with Mannix & Mora.

Mannix believes those matchups are unlikely to deliver the payday or exposure Davis was chasing against Haney. In his view, turning down the title fight leaves Davis without any assurance that another opportunity of similar magnitude will arrive soon.

Former junior middleweight champion Sergio Mora wasn’t ready to dismiss the move outright, saying Keyshawn’s longtime manager, James Prince, has earned the benefit of the doubt. Even so, he acknowledged the gamble will look far different if another lucrative fight fails to materialize.

“They have something up their sleeve. I’ve known James Prince for a long time. He’s a patient player. I bet you there’s more money that we don’t know about. But if he doesn’t get the money that he expects and he’s just wasting time, then you left a lot of your prime hoping to get bigger fights and bigger money. Only time will tell,” Mora said.

If Mannix’s concerns prove justified, rejecting the Haney fight may cost Davis far more than one payday. Months spent waiting for another opportunity of similar magnitude would be far more difficult to recover.