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Mikey Garcia’s pursuit of a clash with Errol Spence Jr. has prompted him to vacate his second belt this year ahead of a planned purse bid with IBF mandatory lightweight challenger Richard Commey. Garcia, who dominated Robert Easter Jr. for the belt in July, remains the WBC Lightweight Champion, while Commey will be ordered to face IBF #3 Isa Chaniev for the vacant title.
We’ve discussed Garcia’s Spence endeavor before, so let’s pad out the rest of this article with a look at Commey-Chaniev. Chaniev (13-1, 6 KO), whose sole career loss came against Fedor Papazov last year, scored his biggest victory to date in May with a decision over former champion Ismael Barroso. He has yet to fight outside of Eastern Europe.
Ghana’s Commey (27-2, 24 KO) is 3-0 since consecutive split decision defeats against Robert Easter Jr. and Denis Shafikov. He’s a legitimate top lightweight who could make some real noise without the looming threat of Garcia.