Richard Oblitey Commey (born 10 March 1987) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title in 2019. He previously held multiple regional lightweight titles including; the Ghanaian title in 2011; the

ABU Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...

title in 2013; and the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

title from 2014 to 2015.

Professional career

On 9 September 2016, Commey fought for a world title for the first time in his career, against undefeated

Robert Easter Jr. Robert Easter Jr. (born January 26, 1991) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active light welterweight by BoxRec. Amateur career ...

Both fighters had a strong start in the first four rounds. Commey managed to drop Easter Jr. in the eighth round, but it wouldn't be enough for the judges, two of them scoring the fight 115–112 and 114–113 in favor of Easter Jr., while the third judge scored the fight 114–113 for Commey, handing Easter Jr. the split-decision win. After losing to Robert Easter Jr. for the vacant IBF lightweight title in 2016, Commey defeated Isa Chaniev in 2019 to capture the IBF title in his second attempt. In his next fight, Commey made his first title defence, against former champion

Ray Beltrán Raymundo Beltrán (born July 23, 1981) is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBO lightweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the WBC– NABF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. Professional career Born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, ...

. The title however, was on the line for Beltran, since he failed to make the required weight limit for the fight. Commey dropped Beltrán four times during the fight, the last knockdown being the decisive one, since it prompted referee Eddie Hernandez Sr to stop the fight. Next up, Commey squared off against undefeated 22-year old prospect

Teófimo López Teófimo Andrés López Rivera (born July 30, 1997) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified lightweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2019 to November 2021, and the WBA (Super), WBO, and '' The Ring'' magazi ...

on 14 December 2019, who was ranked #1 lightweight by the IBF. During the middle of the second round, both fighters tried to connect on a right hand, but López was the one who got to his target first, catching Commey with a vicious right hand which sent him down on the floor. Commey managed to beat the count, however, López immediately went in attack mode, forcing the referee to stop the fight. On 13 February 2021, Commey rebounded from his defeat against López with a sixth-round knockout victory against Jackson Marinez. On 11 December 2021, Commey faced recently deposed former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko from Ukraine in an almost one-sided fight. Lomachenko dominated the fight from round one to round twelve. In round 7 Commey was knocked down and visibly shaken, causing Lomachenko to tell Commey's corner to stop the fight because of the obvious damages done to the Ghanaian fighter. After some ringside verification at the start of round 8, Commey continued, and Lomachenko won nearly all the remaining rounds. Lomachenko defeated Commey in a unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Image - Richard CommeyRichard Commey - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
Lightweight boxers Living people Ghanaian male boxers 1987 births African Boxing Union champions International Boxing Federation champions World lightweight boxing champions {{Ghana-boxing-bio-stub