GHANAIAN International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion, Richard Commey, is billed to face American-Honduran challenger, Teofimo Lopez, in a mandatory defence of his title in either September or November.
This was announced in Accra last Friday by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Streetwise Boxing Promotions, Michael Amoo-Bediako, promoters of the Ghanaian champion.
It will be Commey’s second defence of the title he won after stopping Isa Chaniev in February.
On June 28, he defended it successfully with another stoppage of Raymundo Beltran to be handed another tough opponent on the person of Lopez who defeated Masayoshi Nakatani last weekend.
It is a dream come true for the Brooklyn-based Lopez who made a lot of noise over a desired showdown with the Ghanaian, but Mr Amoo-Bediako believes he has asked for what could put his smooth run in jeopardy.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Amoo-Bediako pointed out that Commey has indicated his readiness to face any challenger in the division including the dreaded Vasyl Lomachenko and will not renege on that vow.
He said Team Commey is always ready and welcomes challenges from opponents in the weight division although his main focus at the moment remains the fight with Lopez.
“Lopez is a very good boxer but at Team Commey, we always want to fight the very best so we welcome the challenge. Commey, no doubt, has the ability to overcome this one too.”
According to Amoo-Bediako, the ultimate aim of Commey is to unify the titles to become an undisputed champion in the welterweight division.
He also announced the formation of the Streetwise Foundation with Richard Commey as its global ambassador.
The foundation, he explained, is aimed at providing technical and managerial support to the teeming young talents identified through the various amateur and professional promotions in the country.
It has signed one of the talented fighters in the country, Sheriff Quaye, to its stable and is hoping to get many more to be supported as they push for a world title agenda.
He lamented the low support giving to boxing in the country by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), which he said, has become indifferent towards the sport and other least financed sports, adding that, “it is the reason why we are not reaping the full benefits of sports.”
“In a country where a Sports Ministry is able to pay footballers $42,000 to each player for winning a single match, it speaks volumes of our direction and the way we treat sports men and women.”
ANDREW NORTEY
