Boxing Challenge; Commey stops Beltran

Ray Beltran missed the lightweight weight limit by nearly two pounds, but after some side agreements, the show went on in Temecula California in a junior welterweight bout rather than the first defense of Richard Commey's IBF lightweight title.

Commey made sure the ESPN audience saw the best from the professional that made weight as Commey drilled Beltran with four knockdowns, two of them in round one on his way to an eighth-round knockout of the former WBO champion.
Commey almost ended this fight early as he stormed from his corner to score two knockdowns, one of which was scored because only the ropes allowed Beltran to stay on his feet.
Beltran did battle back though and answered the Commey attack with counter shots, including one left hook that caused Commey to pause for a bit and allowed Beltran to hear the bell.
The next three rounds were fought on fairly even terms, although Commey had an edge on my card until a fifth-round knockdown essentially changed the fight to a Commey attack against an occasional Beltran counter hook.
After the fifth round knockdown, you had the feeling that the ending of the fight and its result was only a matter of time and Commey's left that crashed home in the eighth and drove Beltran to the floor seat-first did just that.
Beltran rose, but the fight was stopped then and there.

For the technically flawed, but fun to watch Commey, it looks like it will be elite prospect Teofimo Lopez next, assuming Lopez wins his title eliminator in July.
Commey can be easy to counter and one would think that would be a problem against the hard-hitting Lopez, but as he proved against Beltran if Commey lands he is capable of hurting any lightweight in the world.
As for Beltran, it could be time for him to consider the gold watch route and step away after his second defeat in three fights and being stopped for the first time since 2001 (!).
If Beltran does decide to fight on, it is clear that he cannot make the lightweight limit any further and will need to move up to the junior welterweight division, where plenty of young stars are waiting and with Beltran unlikely to defeat the likes of Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez or Maurice Hooker, it would seem to be a high mountain to climb.

In the co-feature, talented junior middleweight Carlos Adames was taken to the limit by veteran Patrick Day but won a unanimous decision in an entertaining faceoff.
Day was badly hurt in the ninth and tenth rounds and at the bell, Day seemed to be hanging on by a thread as Adames hammered away attempting to grab the knockout.
For Adames, this is the type of hard fight that prospects need to progress up the ladder and develop the skills needed to survive a difficult fight against better competition and I thought Adames fought well.
The surprise was Day, who was even on my card after eight rounds (I scored Adames a 96-94 winner) and fought well against a superior force in Adames.
I would wager that Day's performance in this one was noticed by managers and promoters and he'll receive future chances to give similar tests to prospects in the future.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored two points to move the totals to 154-140.