Commey ruled out of April 12th Lomachenko fight

Despite soundly thrashing Isa Chaniev for the IBF lightweight title last week, Richard Commey will be unable to face Vasiliy Lomachenko on April 12th, as an MRI revealed damage to his right knuckle that will leave him “sidelined for at least six weeks.” Lomachenko will remain on the card, however, and face an opponent to be named.

The obvious choice would be WBA mandatory Anthony Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KO); the two were originally set for a purse bid earlier this week, but that was pushed back to the 13th after Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KO) received an exception to unify with Commey (28-2, 25 KO). Now that that’s off the table, Lomachenko and Crolla have five days to negotiate before going to a bid.

It’s a bummer, certainly, but there’s nothing stopping the powers that be from rebooking Lomachenko and Commey for later in the year, barring an all-time-great shock from Crolla.