Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) world welterweight champion, Joshua Clottey has advised new IBF lightweight champion, Richard Commey to avoid an immediate unification with WBO/WBA champion Vasyl Lomachenko.
Instead, he has urged the Commey to take about two defences before considering the proposed unification fight with the Ukrainian champion who is reported to have accepted to fight a new opponent.
In a chat with the Times Sports, the former IBF champion cautioned Commey and his management to be wary of his promoter Lou DiBella, stating that he does not care about his boxers and the kind of fights he gets for them.
“Lou DiBella used to be my promoter and I never liked him. He has the penchant of giving his boxers to the ‘wolves’ in boxing; all he cares about are his huge cuts and not your welfare or your desire to remain at the top.”
“I feel he does not really care about Commey. I want to advise Commey and his Streetwise Management team to wise up and defend the title at least twice before accepting the shot at Lomachenko, he opined.
Clottey noted that Commey is a strong and a good fighter but the timing for the unification was wrong.
According to him, Lomachenko may have only 12 professional fights under his belt with only one defeat but has already won world titles in three different weight classes – featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight.
“He is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and is widely considered to be the best active fighter on the planet today and this speaks volumes of the great fighter he is,” Clottey said.
What make Lomachenko even more dangerous, according to Clottey, were his unbelievable 40 amateur bouts without a loss.
“That proud amateur experience before joining the professional ranks is a huge backbone of every good boxer.”
“Commey has the size and the punches but at times you have to look at the ability and skills of the boxer too. Commey lacks the amateur background which makes them very enduring in difficult moments.”
That notwithstanding, Clottey believes Lomachenko is beatable as he lost in his second professional fight to Mexican Orlando Salido Rivera, meaning Commey can beat him too but for me he has to hold on with this fight.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
