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For a fight between two former world champions, there is a loser-loses-all feel to Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey’s meet-up tonight.
Both are seemingly at a crossroads. Pedraza – the former IBO super-featherweight and WBO lightweight king – was beaten convincingly by Jose Ramirez in California five months ago, a defeat made all the more crushing because it was his fourth in just five years.
Losing to Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko is one thing, but Pedraza knows one more loss would definitively oust his hopes to “stay among the top names in the division”.
Commey is coming off a loss too and he has trod some of the same paths as his adversary here; he has also beaten Ray Beltran, but was dispatched by Lomachenko by unanimous decision in December. Once an IBF champion at lightweight – albeit he only made one successful defence of the belt – Commey has been kept in check by the new circuit at the top of the division, knocked out by the all-too-brief Teofimo Lopez.
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The Ghanaian is determined to “announce myself” at 140lbs (super-lightweight), though he has still not entirely made peace with the Lomachenko setback.
“I wasn’t very active going into that fight,” he said. “I stayed away for too long, and I feel like I was rusty. It is what it is. It happened.
“This is what I do. I fight, so it doesn’t really matter. God knows best, and he knows this is the right time for me.”
“I’ve been back in the gym since I got back from Ghana in March. I always train hard and work on myself because I know boxing is not an easy sport. You have to be ready before you get in the ring, so I always make sure I’m 100 percent ready.”
Pedraza, for his part, promises to be “more offensive” in his strategy, believing that is what has cost him against the likes of Jose Zepeda.
“A big win on Saturday against a great fighter like Richard Commey will put me a step closer to a world title opportunity,” Pedraza said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”
“He has a strong right hand. He’s a strong fighter that punches hard with both hands, and we have that in the game plan, so we’re going to be working on that. I’m expecting a tough fight against a strong fighter.”
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Pedraza vs Commey details
- Date: Saturday 27 August
- Venue: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Fight time: Ring walks for the main event are expected around 4am UK time
- TV/live stream: Sky Sports Arena or with a NOW pass
- Undercard highlights: Jared Anderson is a serious prospect at heavyweight and a huge puncher, so this has the potential to be a cracker in the co-feature event. “The Real Big Baby” is in action, hoping to maintain his unbeaten record and his 100 per cent knockout ratio, against Miljan Rovcanin
- i predicts: Commey has a solid chin and he’s hugely powerful, but Pedraza may just be the cleverer fighter here and we’re backing him to win by unanimous decision
Full undercard
Subject to change
- Jared Anderson vs. Miljan Rovcanin
- Richard Torrez Jr vs Marco Antonio Canedo
- Tiger Johnson vs Harry Gigliotti
- Efe Ajagba vs Jozsef Darmos
- Haven Brady Jr. vs Manuel Guzman
- Jeremiah Milton vs Nick Jones
- Kelvin Davis vs Sebastian Gabriel Chaves
- Frevian Gonzalez vs Gerardo Esquivel
- Abdullah Mason vs Angel Rebollar
- Dante Benjamin Jr vs Leandro Silva
KSI vs Swarmz/ Pineda details
Whether YouTube boxing is typically your scene or not, the premise of “Two Fights One Night” clearly has some appeal, not least because it’s being held at The O2. Social media star KSI (Olajide William Olatunji), who beat Logan Paul by split decision in 2019, takes on another internet sensation in Swarmz, before fighting professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda for the main event.
KSI was originally supposed to face Bulgarian middleweight Ivan Nikolov (who has a fairly abysmal record of 3-16-2). However, when pictures began to circulate of Nikolov’s previous weigh-ins, fans spotted a number of tattoos with far-right connotations, including the words “white power” on his torso. He was subsequently removed from the card, with KSI firing the agent who set the fight up.
Swarmz, the rapper and former semi-professional footballer who will challenge him first at cruiserweight, admits that “KSI’s main strength is that he’s been boxing and training longer than me”, but added: “The simple way to stop it is by getting in his face early and bullying the little punk wannabe rockstar.”
- Date: Saturday 27 August
- Venue: The O2 Arena, London
- Fight time: Ring walks for the main event are expected around 10pm UK time
- TV/live stream: DAZN pay-per-view and it costs £11.99 to order on the night. You’ll need to already be a subscriber to DAZN, which costs £7.99 a month.
- i predicts: None the wiser. Sorry.
Full undercard
Subject to change
- KSI vs Luis Alcaraz Pineda
- Faze Temper vs TBA
- King Kenny vs Faze Sensei
- Deji vs Fousey
- Sam Hyde vs IAMTHMPSN
- Salt Papi vs Andy Warski
- Deen the Great vs Evil Hero
- KSI vs Swarmz
Any other business
- There is no easy path ahead for Anthony Joshua, who has seen his legacy consistently slandered this week. After the fight, we discussed where Joshua goes next, and in case you missed it, Jarrell Miller’s promoter has told i that the American wants to resurrect their cancelled fight from 2019. More likely is a rematch with Dillian Whyte or the fans the fight really want to see against Deontay Wilder. Joshua initially targeted a December return but first, his post-fight antics suggest a long break is needed.
- Frank Warren has revealed Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury is ON. Not officially, of course, with Fury appearing to toy with the purse split, but the WBC champion is at least willing to come out of his “retirement” to make it happen.
- As for his cousin Hughie Fury, he has been given a new date for his world title eliminator against Michael Hunter, which will now take place on 29 October – in Birmingham, not the original city of Manchester.
- That is set to be a big night in the capital too – there are rumblings the same date will be set for WBA “Regular” champion Daniel Dubois against Dillian Whyte.
- And speaking of clashes… Leigh Wood will defend his WBA world title against Mauricio Lara (conqueror of Josh Warrington) on 24 September, the same night as Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker
