Richard Oblitey Commey (born 10 March 1987) is a Ghanaian professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title in 2019. He previously held multiple regional lightweight titles including; the Ghanaian title in 2011; the ABU title in 2013; and the Commonwealth 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. 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. 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 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
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes36LossJosé RamírezKO11 (12), 26 Mar 202335Draw30–4–1José PedrazaSD1027 Aug 202234Loss30–4Vasiliy LomachenkoUD1211 Dec 202133Win30–3Jackson MaríñezKO6 (10), 13 Feb 202132Loss29–3Teófimo LópezTKO2 (12), 14 Dec 201931Win29–2Ray BeltránKO8 (12), 28 Jun 201930Win28–2Isa ChanievTKO2 (12), 2 Feb 201929Win27–2Yardley Armenta CruzTKO2 (8), 4 Aug 201828Win26–2Alejandro LunaTKO6 (12), 10 Mar 201827Win25–2Hedi SlimaniUD1211 Mar 201726Loss24–2Denis ShafikovSD122 Dec 201625Loss24–1Robert Easter Jr.129 Sep 201624Win24–0Anzor GamgebeliTKO2 (8), 19 Mar 201623Win23–0Kakha AvetisianiTKO5 (10), 17 Oct 201522Win22–0Bahodir MamadjonovTKO8 (10), 22 May 201521Win21–0Thompson MokwanaTKO7 (12), 14 Mar 201520Win20–0Mikheil AvakianTKO4 (8), 7 Feb 201519Win19–0Samir ZianiUD1013 Dec 201418Win18–0Gary Buckland1212 Jul 201417Win17–0Prince OfotsuTKO8 (12), 26 Dec 201316Win16–0Paul TruscottTKO8 (12), 13 Jul 201315Win15–0Bilal MohammadKO7 (12), 8 Mar 201314Win14–0Fuseini AhmedTKO7 (8), 8 Dec 201213Win13–0Kris Hughes4 (8), 15 Sep 201212Win12–0Simas VolosinasTKO3 (6), 7 Jul 201211Win11–0Korley CollisonTKO6 (12), 16 Dec 201110Win10–0Yusif SalifuTKO3 (8), 2 Dec 20119Win9–0Zakaria SalifuTKO4 (8), 4 Nov 20118Win8–0Tetteh LampteyTKO3 (8), 21 Oct 20117Win7–0Emmanuel OdoiKO2 (8)10 Sep 20116Win6–0Dan QuarteyKO2 (8), 30 Jul 20115Win5–0Zakaria SalifuTKO3 (8), 24 Jun 20114Win4–0Yaw SakiyaTKO3 (8), 21 May 20113Win3–0Kuma Doe3 (8)29 Apr 20112Win2–0Obile IssakaTKO1 (6), 2 Apr 20111Win1–0Baba Nsor2 (6), 26 Feb 2011
References
External links
Image - Richard Commey Richard Commey - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live