Sports News of Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2018-10-02
Commey has been handed a dream championship fight against multiple titles holder, Mickey Garcia
Ghana’s lightweight contender, Richard Commey has been handed a dream championship fight against multiple titles holder, Mickey Garcia, next January in either Las Vegas or New York.
Commey (27-2, 24 KOs) will be challenging the undefeated Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight belts in a tough bout.
The two camps made a deal late Monday night and the IBF notified its registered promoters that the purse bid scheduled for yesterday afternoon was canceled.
“We made a deal for the fight, a real deal,” Commey promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN. “Mikey Garcia isn’t walking through Richard Commey.” The sides have 15 days to return signed contracts to the IBF.
After defeating Alejandro Luna last March in an IBF title eliminator, Commey was expected to fight old foe and then champion, Robert Easter Jr, but the American opted for a unification bout with Garcia which he lost by a unanimous decision.
After the Garcia-Easter Jr fight, the IBF, ordered Garcia’s camp to start negotiations with Commey within 30 days, but after both camps failed to reach an agreement, a purse bid was called which resulted in the new date being agreed.
Confirming the fight to Graphic sports Online on Tuesday, Michael Amoo-Bediako, CEO of Streetwise Management, promoters of Commey, said an agreement had been reached for a fight in January next year with Las Vegas or New York being considered as the venue for the bout.
“I can confirm to you that the Garcia-Commey fight has been billed for January next year with the venue to be in either Las Vegas or New York. The IBF and WBC lightweight belts will be up for grabs for the winner of the fight,” he said.
The confirmation of the January fight brings an end to expectations that Garcia would move up two weight divisions to challenge Errol Spence Jr and vacate the IBF belt.
Since losing a controversial decision to Easter jr in a world title fight in 2016, and defeat months later to Denis Shafikov in an eliminator, 31-year-old Commey has enjoyed a three-fight winning streak to claim the vacant WBC International Silver Lightweight title after beating Hedi Slimani in March 2017 in Ghana, followed with knockout victories over Alejandro Luna and Yardley Cruz this year.
Garcia, on the other hand, has won all his last four fights since 2017 against the likes of Dejan Zlaticanin, Adrien Broner, Sergey Lipinets and Robert Easter Jr.