Commey needs better trainers, sparring partners - Alhaji Tofik

BOXING promoter, match-maker and manager, Alhaji Muritella Tofik, says former world champion, Richard Oblitey Commey, needs good sparring partners and a better technical team to help him reclaim the world title.

He advised him to stay in the lightweight division and never contemplate moving to the super lightweight division, adding that his natural weight is lightweight.
“Commey doesn’t have the physique for the super lightweight division; he is too small for super lightweight.

“He must stick to lightweight; all he needs is good sparring,” he told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive telephone interview in Accra last Thursday.
He believed that Commey (30-4, 27 KOs) will struggle in the super lightweight division (140 pounds) as against the lightweight which is 135 pounds.

“The ultimate decision lies with him, he can control that, but I think he is going on a wrong trajectory and that may affect his success in the sport,” the executive member of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) stated.

The US-based Ghanaian boxer is expected to fight Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) in July to test himself at 140 pounds after announcing his decision to move up in weight.

Commey 35, who was schooled in the ring by Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko in a lopsided fight last December, has decided on the super lightweight division as the next weight division for his craft.

Alhaji Tofik, who owns boxing promotional outfit, Ambition Boxing Promotions, believes the Bukom-born lad must hasten slowly in that division.
He advised Commey to be patient and do a careful analysis of that division before taking a decision.

“I strongly believe that weight division is not good for him and he must tread cautiously. But if he insists he wants to fight at 140 pounds, then I can only wish him good luck,” he stated.