By: Hans Themistode
Madison Square Garden, was filled to the brim to watch Terence Crawford defend his title against Egidijus Kavaliauskas on December 14th. That contest, like many of the others on that card, were viewed as mismatches. The one bout that wasn’t however, was the co-main event between then IBF Lightweight champion Richard Commey and the super popular fighter out of Brooklyn New York, Teofimo Lopez.
It was a true a toss up level contest, with both men having the ability to pull it off. On one end stood Commey, five feet eight inches, shredded to the bone with dynamite in his fist. On the other end stood Lopez, a decade younger than his opponent and in possession of the ability and skills of a fighter who might be on his way to a special career.
There were too many storylines surrounding this bout to detail them to you now, but the bottomline, this was a contest that could go in any direction.
As the second round came rolling by, after a very close first round, it was clear that the fans were in for a long night as both men wouldn’t give an inch. The belief of a close contest was thrown right out the window as Lopez landed a beautiful overhand right. Down went Commey.
When the champion rose to his feet, Lopez unloaded on him without much of a response from Commey, which forced the referee to put a stop to the contest. Everyone was left with their jaws wide open. Everyone except for Lopez’s father. He screamed at anyone who would listen that this is exactly what would happen.
“I told everybody,” said Lopez Sr. “Commey is going to make him look good. This was never a 50/50 fight, he never had a chance. I said we were going to make it look easy.”
Lopez Sr has the right to gloat over his Nostradamus level prediction this past Saturday night.
In a fight of this magnitude, you would think that Lopez Sr would have wanted his son to ease his way into the match, especially against such a big puncher. But that just wasn’t the case in this scenario. Lopez Sr wanted his son to end the night early and that is exactly what he did.
“In the second round I told my son to go walk him down and take him out. I told him if you get him hurt don’t let him go. He cracked him man. He’s going to do that to everyone.”
Now that Commey is out of the way of Lopez, the groundwork has already been set for a contest with pound for pound star Vasiliy Lomachenko. This may seem like the sort of contest that will be too much for Lopez at this point in his career, but Lopez Sr is prepared to make everyone eat their words once again.
“One thing I know is that we are fighting Loma. We’re gonna box him, just like we did with Commey and if the moment presents itself, my son is going to take his neck off.”
Lopez and his father have been calling for a contest with Lomachenko for quite some time. Now that he is in possession of a world title, they will soon get their wish.
“Now he’s a world champion,” said Lomachenko. “Welcome to my club and see you in April.”