17-0 with 17 Knockouts! Wow! Richard Commey, Ghana’s Rising Lightweight Star
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
With the departure of Adrien Broner to the welterweight division, Richard Commey, the Ghanian Lightweight champion, is rapidly rising through the ranks. Now 17-0 with 17 knockouts,Commey is slowly but surely taking apart the pretenders in the lightweight division. Joseph Awinongya, championship trainer from Ghana, take notice of this young man. Ghana may soon have a world champion in the 135 pound division.
Commey turned professional on February 26, 2011, with a second round knockout of Baba Nsor in Accra. In March 2013, Commey scored a seventh round knockout of Bilal Muhammad in Accra to win the International Boxing Federation Continental Africa Lightweight title. Now ranked number one in the IBF Intercontinental Lightweight rankings, Commey will fight Great Britain’s Derry Matthews, the IBF Intercontinental fourth ranked lightweight fighter, for the Commonwealth (British Empire) Lightweight title. If Commey defeats Matthews in March 2014, IBF Intercontinental champion and worldwide eighth ranked lightweight Kevin Mitchell of Great Britain would have a mandatory defense against Commey in September 2014, with the winner of that bout conceivably fighting Miguel Vasquez of Mexico for the IBF World Lightweight title.
Rich Commey versus Paul Truscott on YouTube, Courtesy GP Promotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySop0YJsgnc
Commey’s stock is rising fast. Truscott is one of the only two of Commey’s 17 opponents to make it to the eighth round, and neither of them made it out of the eighth round. Commey tuned up for the upcoming Matthews bout with an eighth round stoppage of Prince Ofatsu in Accra on December 26, 2013, to add the African Boxing Union Lightweight title to his regional title belt collection.
If Commey reaches 20-0, he would easily qualify for a world title shot against Vazquez. Hall of Fame multi division champion Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey, David ‘Poison’ Kotey, Ben Tackie, Braimah Kamoko and Osumanu Adama are the best known names of professional boxers from Ghana in recent memory.
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