Vasily Lomachenko vs. Richard Commey: Date, time, how to watch, background
former pound-for-pound king VASILIY LOMACHENKO WILL FACE RICHARD COMMEY on saturday in new york.
Vasiliy Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) vs. Richard Commey (30-3, 27 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 11
Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in event)
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV/Stream: ESPN and ESPN+
Division: Lightweight
At stake: No major titles
Pound-for-pound ranking: Lomachenko No. 7
Odds: Lomachenko 7-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Also on the card: Jared Anderson vs. Oleksandr Teslenko, heavyweights
Prediction: Lomachenko UD 12
Background: Lomachenko is the last of four top 135-pounders to fight during a two-week period. Teofimo Lopez was upset on Nov. 27 by George Kambosos, who became undisputed champ. Devin Haney outpointed Joseph Diaz Jr. on Saturday. And Gervonta Davis overcame a stiff resistance to defeat Isaac Cruz on Sunday. Now Lomachenko has a chance to show how he measures up. The former pound-for-pound king lost his crown to Lopez by a unanimous decision in October of last year. The 33-year-old Ukrianian rebounded to stop Masayoshi Nakatani in June but still seems to be an afterthought when pundits discuss the best lightweights. And a victory over Commey probably won’t change that. The 34-year-old Ghanian can punch with the best of them but has limited all-around ability, as we saw when Lopez took him out in two rounds in December of 2019. The former titleholder bounced back to stop capable Jackson Marinez in six rounds this past February. His most-impressive victory was an eighth-round knockout of Raymundo Beltran in his first title defense in June 2019. On the undercard, 22-year-old heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (10-0, 10 KOs) of Toledo, Ohio, continues his education against Ukrainian Oleksandr Teslenko (17-1, 13 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder.
