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By Arne K. Lang
Tonight's junior welterweight match between Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey, the headline attraction of a Top Rank show in Tulsa, was a match between two former world title-holders who were each at a critical juncture at the back end of their career. No title was at stake, but the stakes were high. The winner would stay relevant in a strong division.
On paper this was a highly competitive match between 11-year veterans with near-identical records and it certainly played out that way. It was a scored a draw, leaving both Puerto Rico's Pedroza (29-4-1) and Ghana's Commey (30-4-1) in a sort of limbo in terms of their future engagements. It's fair to say, however, that the outcome for both combatants was more of a loss-loss than a win-win.
Commey was ahead at the mid-point of the fight. He slowed down after suffering a cut in the corner of his left eye in round six from an apparent clash of heads. The crafty Pedroza had a strong ninth and may have won the 10th also to salvage a draw. The judges had it 97-93 (Pedroza), 96-94 (Commey), and 95-95.
Heavyweight co-features
Jared Anderson, who had been out of action since December with an unspecified injury, returned to the ring and picked up where he left off, scoring his 12th knockout in as many opportunities with a second-round stoppage of Serbia’s Milan Rovcanin (24-2) who was making his U.S. debut.
A flurry of punches climaxed by a chopping right hand put Rovcanin flat on his back where he remained as referee Mark Nelson tolled the 10-count. The official time was 3:00 of round two.
Anderson, who entered the ring in prison chain gang garb in solidarity with a brother who was incarcerated, solidified his growing reputation as the next big thing in the heavyweight division.
In the opener on the main ESPN platform, Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr, the pride of Tulare, CA, scored a brutal knockout of Mexico’s Marco Antonio Canedo in a fight that consumed only 44 seconds. Torrez Jr (3-0, 3 KOs) had Canedo on the canvas twice, the second with a left-left-right combination as Canedo’s back was pinned against the ropes. The second and third punches were superfluous. Canedo, who brought a 4-2 record, was unconscious before he hit the deck and needed medical attention before he was fit to leave the ring. It was the second straight fight for Torrez in which his opponent failed to survive the opening minute.
Other Bouts of Note
Efe Ajagba (16-1, 13 KOs) rebounded from his first professional loss and elbow surgery with a stroll in the park against 37-year-old Hungarian no-hoper Jozsef Darmos (14-5-1) who was down twice before the referee waived it off at the 1:15 mark of round two of a heavyweight contest slated for eight.
Cleveland junior welterweight Delante “Tiger” Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, improved to 5-0 (4) with a fifth-round stoppage of Massachusetts tough guy Harry Gigliotti (8-4). There were no knockdowns but Gigliotti, who hadn’t previously been stopped, absorbed a lot of punishment before referee Mark Nelson waived it off at the 2:17 mark.
Local fan favorite Jeremiah Milton advanced to 6-0 (5) with a one-punch knockout of Nick Jonas (9-5) in the second round of a heavyweight contest slated for six. A 35-year-old oil field worker, Jonas left himself wide open after missing with a roundhouse right and was sent face-first to the canvas with what appeared to be a glancing blow. The referee waived it off without completing his count. The official time was 2:49 of round two.
In an entertaining four-round skirmish between 18-year-old lightweights, Cleveland’s Abdullah Mason won a unanimous decision over LA’s Angel Rebollar. Mason, now 4-0 (3), has a bright future if he tightens his defense. It was the first pro loss for spunky Rebollar (5-1) who made Mason work hard although it wasn’t reflected on the scorecards.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty images
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