time in the fight in the eighth. Although
Beltran regained his feet and signalled he
was fine, Hernandez did not like his body
language and stopped it.
Provided Teofimo Lopez gets by
Masayoshi Nakatani on July 19, he is next
up for Commey. The winner of that one is
then likely to be paired with whoever wins
the Vasyl Lomachenko
-Luke Campbell matchup.
And when the dust clears,
we hope, there will be an
undisputed lightweight
champion - until the
sanctioning bodies restore
the insanity they are
known for.
Super-welterweight
Carlos Adames looked
bigger and stronger than
Long Island’s Patrick Day
and was. He overpowered Day over the
second half of their 10-rounder and had
him on the verge of a knockout when the
final bell rang.
It could have easily been stopped by
referee Ray Corona, who let it go to the
scorecards, all of which favoured Adames
(Zachary Young 98-91, Jerry Cantu andMax DeLuca both 97-92).
Day did well in the first half, jabbing,
moving, and getting off first, but you
always got the feeling it was a matter of
time before Adames took over. Adames.
from the Dominican Republic, dedicated
his victory to his countryman baseball
star David Ortiz, who was the victim of a
shooting a few weeks ago.
In the night’s biggest
upset, Mexican Miguel
Angel Gonzalez dropped
unbeaten Californian
Saul Rodriguez in
the opening seconds
of their scheduled 10.
Rodriguez came back
and seemed to have the
momentum on his side
when he was tagged with
a counter left in the third.
It was highlight reel stuff. Rodriguez was
stretched on his back and referee Thomas
Taylor did not bother to count, waving it
off at 1-23 of the round.THE VERDICTCommey’s in the form
of his life, but shopworn Beltran
should call it a day.IBF lightweight champion Richard
Commey was playing with house money.
Win or lose he was going to leave the ring
at the Pechanga Resort & Casino (Top
Rank promoted) with his title intact.
It could have resulted in an indifferent
performance, but to his credit the man
from Accra, Ghana, fought the fight of his
life in stopping former WBO champion
Ray Beltran at 54 seconds of the eighth
round of their 12.
The 1.8lbs by which Beltran came in
over the 135lbs limit resulted in his having
to forgo 20 per cent of his 200K purse,
to be split between Commey and the
California commission.
It was agreed the fight could still take
place provided he did not gain more than
10lbs by the time of a second weigh-in to
be held in the early morning of the fight.
Beltran did not. The fight was on, but
in the event he won, the title would not
change hands.
As for Commey, who made weight on
his first try, there would be a second trip
to the scales the following morning as
well. If he did not gain more than 10lbs
in the interim, Commey was guaranteed
to hold onto his crown regardless of
what occurred in the ring. However, if he
exceeded that he would be required to
defeat Beltran to remain champion. A loss
would render the title vacant.
In an ironic twist, when there was an
unofficial weigh-in the night of the fight
it was Commey who came in the heavier
of the two.
At the end of the day there was a fight,
a terrific one at that. It looked like it would
end quickly when in the first round a
right sent Beltran sprawling to the canvas.
Beltran got up but was in deep trouble
and took another count from referee
Edward Hernandez Snr, who correctly
ruled the ropes had kept him erect.
Commey went all out for the finish, but
Beltran was still dangerous though hurt.
Suddenly a left hook shook Commey,
who backed off looking like he may have
punched himself out. In truth though, he
was regrouping.
It was give and take the rest of the way,
but Commey was working well behind the
jab and doing the better work.
Early in the fifth the Arizona-based
Mexican was dropped again along the
ropes. Beltran was in deep trouble, but
like he has done so many times before, he
fought through it. The physical nature of
the fight was evident on the faces of both:
Commey’s right eye was swollen, Beltran’s
cut.
A left dropped Beltran for the fourth
TEMECULA, CA
JUNE 28
HEAD SHAKER:
Commey cracks
BeltranPhoto: MIKEY WILLIAMS/TOP RANKACTION
14 lBOXING NEWSlJULY 4, 2019 http://www.boxingnewsonline.netFULL RESULTS
Richard Commey (134 1/2lbs), 29-2 (26), w rsf 8 Ray Beltran (136.8lbs), 36-7-1 (22); Carlos Adames (154lbs), 18-0 (14), w pts 10 Patrick Day
(154lbs), 17-3-1 (6); Junior Fa (259 1/2lbs), 18-0 (10), w pts 10 Dominick Guinn (234lbs), 37-13-1 (6); Miguel Angel Gonzalez (130 1/2lbs),
25-4 (21), w rsf 3 Saul Rodriguez (130 1/2lbs), 23-1-1 (17); Jose Rodriguez (145 1/2lbs), 7-0 (2), w pts 6 Vicente Morales (147 1/2lbs), 2-3 (1);
Raymond Muratella (135lbs), 8-0 (5), w rsf 1 Augustine Mauras (147 1/2lbs), 6-6-3 (3); Christopher Zavala (129 1/2lbs), 5-0 (2), w pts 6 Prisco
Marquez (130lbs), 4-1-1 (1); Elvis Rodriguez (129 1/2lbs), 2-0-1 (2), tech dec 1 Joaquin Chavez (141lbs), 9-18-4 (2); David Kaminsky (162lbs),
5-0 (2), w pts 4 Osbaldo Camacho Gonzalez (163lbs), 6-5 (4); Dmitry Yun (135 1/2lbs), 1-0, w pts 4 Jose Antonio Meza (135lbs), 6-4 (1).Beltran’s
overweight but
Commey
hammers him
anyway, writes
Jack HirschHOUSE MONEY
★★★★ MAIN EVENT
★★★ UNDERCARDAT THE END
OF THE DAY
THERE WAS A
FIGHT, AND A
TERRIFIC ONE
AT THAT