Getty Vasiliy Lomachenko and Richard Commey.
Lightweight boxers Vasiliy Lomachenko and Richard Commey will battle at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
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In the US, the main card (9 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on ESPN, but if you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of every single fight — both the prelims (not televised, 5:30 p.m. ET start time) and the main card — on ESPN+ right here:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Lomachenko vs Commey live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
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Lomachenko vs Commey Preview
Lomachecnko (15-2, 11 KOs) held half of the lightweight division’s major titles for nearly two years before he stepped into the ring with Teófimo López in October 2020 in an attempt to add the American’s IBF strap to his collection.
That didn’t happen. The Ukrainian dropped a unanimous decision, surrendering the WBO and WBA belts in the process.
According to promoter Bob Arum, Lomachenko was hampered by an injured shoulder before and during his second professional defeat.
“He looked bad (against Lopez) but you have to understand, this has been a perfect storm,” Arum said, according to The Ring. “He went into that fight with a bum shoulder and the strategy was to go easy and then fight the back end (of the fight) hard. His strategy made no sense but that was his strategy.
“Two days after the fight he was operated on by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the famous orthopedic surgeon, and now he’s fully repaired. So, he blew the titles really by not taking a postponement.”
Eight months after the surgery, the 33-year-old rebounded with a ninth-round TKO of Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani. Saturday will mark his return to the arena at which he claimed his first lightweight title, the WBA’s, by stopping Jorge Linares in the 10th round.
“I am 100-percent healthy and ready for Saturday night. I can’t wait,” Lomachenko said, per The Ring. “Madison Square Garden is like a second home for me. So many great moments in my career have taken place at Madison Square Garden. I won the lightweight title against Jorge Linares in that arena (in May 2018), so returning there brings back many great memories.”
Should oddsmakers’ prediction of a Lomachenko victory hold true, he’ll have his sights set on Australia’s George Kambosos Jr., who upset López via split decision for the WBA, WBO, and IBF straps in November 2021.
“We can discuss my future after Saturday night,” Lomachenko said, per The Ring. “Of course, Kambosos is a fight I would like. He is the new champion, and he had a great performance against López. But Commey deserves my full attention and that is the task I am focused on now.”
Commey (30-3, 27 KOs) also fell to López in a recent title fight, losing the IBF lightweight belt to the American via second-round TKO at MSG in December 2019.
The Ghanaian, now 34, bounced back with a sixth-round knockout of the Dominican Republic’s Jackson Marinez in February 2021.
“I’m feeling good. I’m very excited,” Commey said, according to Fightnews.com. “This is my second time coming here. The last time didn’t work out well for me, so I have the opportunity to right the wrong. I’ve got all of my country behind me.”