Richard Commey gets back into title contention after Marinez knockout

Richard Commey sent a reminder to the lightweight division that there is still plenty of fight left in him.

The 33-year old Ghana native enjoyed a celebrated return to the ring after a 14-month break, knocking out Jackson Marinez in the 6th round of their main event Saturday evening at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Commey scored two knockdowns, the latter of the two prompted an immediate stoppage at 2:35 of round six.

Commey has been out of the ring since his IBF lightweight title reign came to an unceremonious close in a 2nd round knockout to Teofimo Lopez in Dec. 2019.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic kept him out of the ring for all of 2020, only to watch Lopez further unify the 135-pound division following a 12-round unanimous decision win over Vasiliy Lomachenko in their World lightweight championship clash last October.

The unbeaten Brooklyn-bred champion took the time to lend his support to his old ring rival, which clearly resonated with Saturday’s winner.

“Aside from the ring wars, in life you should show love to one another,” Commey told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna after the bout.

“He always liked me, and it’s pure love. For him to come down to my corner, it was motivating. It showed tremendous love, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

The win gets Richard Commey back among a crack list of lightweights which includes undisputed champion Lopez, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.