BoxingFight Recaps

Oscar Valdez, Richard Commey win on ESPN

WBO featherweight world champion Oscar Valdez (25-0 20KOs) made his fifth world title defense against Carmine Tommasone (19-1 5KOs) on the undercard of Eleider Alvarez versus Sergey Kovalev from The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, the undercard prelims were televised on ESPN prior to the ESPN+ main card.

It didn’t start the best for Oscar Valdez, but it is about how you finish. Valdez was slow to start, but from the third round onward, Valdez’s power was too much for Tommasone, whose nose was blooded in the third round and he was sent to the canvas twice in the fourth.

Valdez dropped Tommasone in the sixth round, the end came at the start of the seventh round when a lead right uppercut sent Tommasone to the canvas as he momentarily went limp with the ref waiving the bout off immeditaley.

Lightweight Richard Commey won his first world title as he picked up the vacant IBF lightweight title Mikey Garcia vacated when he decided to face Errol Spence Jr. later this year, as Commey knocked out undefeated Isa Chaniev in a bout that Chaniev was never in. Commey started strong from the onset and sent Chaniev to the canvas in the first round and stopped him in the second. Commey reminded this writer of Ike Quartey in this bout.

Richard Commey will now face Vasyl Lomachenko later this year.

Undercard notes, New York gym legend Patrick Day picked up another title by defeating Ismail Iliev in a hard-fought ten round bout. Day had to show a full range of skills to beat IIiev, who had a lot of success coming forward.

The judges saw the bout 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. The win garnered Day the International Boxing Federation Inter-Continental Super Welterweight Title as well as he defended his World Boxing Council Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title.

Day now will have a top 15 world ranking in the IBF super welterweight division, a belt currently held by Jarrett Hurd, who will defend it against Julian “J-Rock” Williams in May.

Super welterweight Bakhram Murtazaliev picked up a ninth-round TKO over Elvin Ayala in a ten-round bout, middleweight Janibek Alimkhanuly picked up a fifth-round TKO over Steven Martinez, featherweight Jason Sanchez picked up a second-round TKO over Daniel Olea and super lightweight Enriko Gogokhia got a third-round TKO over Vitor Jones.

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Lukie Ketelle

Lukie Ketelle