Richard Commey with promoter, Bob Arum
Ghana’s Richard Commey produced a masterful performance to beat Russian Isa Chaniev and become the new IBF Lightweight World Champion.
In what was his second shot at this same title after losing back in 2016 against Robert Easter Jnr, Commey started in a very positive fashion, attacking the Russian from the off with a series of combination shots early in the first round.
Commey then floored Chaniev late in the first round with a right hook into the side of the head, but the Russian managed to beat the count and was saved by the bell as the round came to an end.
Commey continued his dominance in the second, and floored Chaniev again just 10 seconds into the 2nd round, with a powerful left hook.
The Russian beat the
count, but it was clear he was barely hanging on, and Commey applied the
finishing blow with a hard left hook to send Chaniev tumbling down for the
third time and the referee ended the fight just 40 seconds into the second
round.
Commey now becomes Ghana’s 9th world champion, and will have a chance to unify
the division on April 12 against Vasyl Lomachenko.