Richard Commey must seize opportunity against Luna — Tofik
An executive member of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), Alhaji Muritela Tofik, has charged Ghanaian world title hopeful, Richard Commey, to seize the opportunity and defeat Alejandro Luna if he wants to realise his dream of becoming a world champion.
Alhaji Tofik told the Graphic Sports in an interview yesterday that Commey must avoid any setback against Luna in tomorrow's showdown at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, in order to stand a chance of having a rematch with Robert Easter Jr for the IBF lightweight title later this year.
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Having been inactive for nearly a year following a unanimous decision victory over Tunisia's Hedi Slimani at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra on March 11, 2017 for the vacant World Boxing Council International Silver lightweight title, Commey (25-2, 22 KOs) returns to the ring to fight America's undefeated Luna (22-0, 15 KOs) in world title eliminator over who challenges American Easter Jr later this year.
"This is his time to get another chance of a world title shot by beating Luna and he must not make this opportunity pass if he wants to be a world champion.
"He must take this opportunity at all costs and I believe he has what it takes to realise that. He has trained well in over six months preparing for the fight and I hope it goes well for him," he said.
Commey possesses an experience advantage over his opponent, having challenged and lost a controversial split decision to Easter Jr for the vacant IBF lightweight title in 2016.
He subsequently suffered another split decision defeat to Russia's Denis Shafikov in an eliminator which could have seen him challenge Easter Jr in a rematch that same year.
Luna, on the other hand, will be fighting the toughest opponent of his career yet in Commey after earning a unanimous decision victory over Andrey Klimov of Russia last year.
When asked about Commey's chances ahead of the fight, Alhaji Tofik noted that the boxer had now acclamatised to the weather in US having trained there for over six months.
He said it was the right and perfect time for the Ghanaian to prove himself to the world by putting up a splendid performance against his opponent.