Richard Commey got back on track after a devastating two round loss to Teofimo Lopez, by stopping Jackson Marinez in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The first Top Rank show of 2021 was severely decimated on fight week, when the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight title clash between Joe Smith Jr and Maxim Vlasov had to be shelved due to a positive COVID 19 test returned by the Russian, but the show went on inside the MGM Grand Bubble, with Commey and Marinez elevated to the main event.
Lopez, who stopped Commey in last December to claim the IBF belt was ringside to shout encouragement to his former foe. It was an assured performance from former IBF Lightweight champion, and a welcome return to form as he bullied and dominated his Dominican opponent.
The Ghanian used his strength to control the action in the early rounds, and Marinez was trying his best to fend off his opponent with his boxing skills, to little avail.
The conclusion was brutal in coming. In the sixth, Commey hurt Marinez, and then a devastating overhand right forced the 30-year-old to crumple and bounce off the ropes, where the fight was immediately waved off.
Commey now comes back into the mix at 135lbs, and will look to force fights with the big names in the division in 2021.
What a moment of respect here by a couple of Lightweight champions who are forever linked. 💯@RichardCommey 🤝 @TeofimoLopez #CommeyMarinez | ESPN – 10pm ET / 7pm PT pic.twitter.com/g7OXFoVTCY
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 14, 2021
At Featherweight, Adam Lopez squeezed past Jason Sanchez in their crossroads fight, retaining his NABF belt with a majority decision win over ten rounds.
It was a closely contested fight, and Lopez took 97-93 and 96-94 cards, with a third ruling a 95-95 draw.
Heavyweight hope, Jared Anderson dominated Kingsley Ibeh (5-2-1, 4 KOs), but had to wait until the last minute of the sixth and final round to make it an eighth straight knockout win from as many contests.
Anderson (8-0, 8 KOs) dominated, and a short left hand ended matters with just over 40 seconds remaining.
At Welterweight, Jahi Tucker moved to 3-0 (2 KOs) with a second round knockout of Eric Rodriguez (1-2, 1 KO) and at Lightweight, Eric Puente (5-0) took all four rounds against Sergio Vega to remain unbeaten, while Vega (2-2-1, 2 KOs) suffered his first loss in four outings.
There were two debutants on the card, and both were winners on the cards in their four rounders. At Bantamweight, Floyd Diaz (1-0) took all four rounds against Fernando Macias (1-2), and at Middleweight, Troy Isley (1-0) did the same in seeing off Bryant Costello (1-2, 1 KO).
