IBF officially orders Richard Commey vs Teofimo Lopez!
As expected, the IBF has officially ordered a fight between champion Richard Commey (29-2, 26KO) and rising unbeaten contender Teofimo Lopez (14-0, 11KO). These two men have been on a collision course for a few months now. With both men handling their business in their prior fights, the only thing remaining for them to do is fight!
Commey is a solid fighter with a lot of power, particularly in that right hand. The Ghanaian comes with a wealth of experience, having fought the likes of former champions Robert Easter Jr and Ray Beltran as well as Russian bruiser Denis Shafikov . He stopped Beltran in his first title defense in 8 rounds back on June 28.
Lopez is a phenomenal rising contender with superb athleticism, boxing skills and power. He’s coming off a tougher than expected fight against Masayoshi Nakatani on July 19. In that fight, he dropped his opponent early, but struggled to figure out the tall Japanese fighter until late in the fight. The win secured him the mandatory spot in the IBF.
Both sides have 30 days to negotiate a deal before the IBF orders a purse bid. The expectation is that a deal will come to fruition before the deadline as Top Rank promotes both men.
The winner of Commey vs Lopez is expected to face the winner of Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell scheduled for the vacant WBC title on August 31.
If both winners meet, it will be for the undisputed crown at lightweight; the first since the late Pernell Whitaker defeated Juan Nazario in 1990!
3kingsboxing.com will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they become available.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
