HamAndEgger
All Star
Never thought this Spence fight was ever happening. According to sources close to the situation, Mikey Garcia will defend his WBC and IBF world lightweight titles versus IBF mandatory challenger Richard Commey next.
An IBF purse bid scheduled to take place today has been canceled as both sides have reportedly reached an agreement.
Garcia vs. Commey is expected to occur in late January, possibly January 19 or 26, in Las Vegas or New York. No word on which network will air the bout although Fox and Showtime are the two possible destinations.
Garcia, 30, 39-0 (30 KOs), initially sought to face IBF world welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. In order to do so, he would have to vacate the IBF lightweight title he won by defeating incumbent Robert Easter Jr. in July.
The IBF was unlikely to allow Garcia to fight for their title in a higher weight after dropping their belts two previous times. Last March, Garcia defeated Sergey Lipinets for the IBF 140lb. strap and then relinquished it one month later. After delays on the purse bid, Garcia decided to move forward with the title defense.
Ghana’s Commey, 31, 27-2 (24 KOs), became the mandatory challenger on the Garcia-Lipinets undercard by stopping previously-unbeaten Alejandro Luna via sixth-round TKO.
This is the second time he’ll be fighting for this title. In September 2016, he and Easter fought for that vacant version. Easter eked out a split decision in a Fight of the Year candidate.
Commey has since relocated from Ghana to New York and is currently trained by Andre Rozier, who also trains former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs. He’s registered two KOs since, first versus Luna and then again in August, stopping Yardley Cruz in two.
