Former World Champion Richard Commey is back! Feb. 23rd at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre
BROOKLYN (February 13, 2025) – Former International Boxing Federation(IBF) Lightweight World Champion Richard “RC” Commey (30-5-1, 27 KOs) returns to the ring after a two-year absence on Sunday, February 23rd, fighting on “The Return” card, presented by World Kid Promotions, to be streamed on www.bxngtv.com live from Kings Theater in Brooklyn.
Commey joins another former world champion, Brooklyn junior middleweight Sadam “World Kid” Ali (27-3, 14 KOs), who returns to the ring after a 5 ½ years absence from the ring in the eight-round main event against Vicoriano Antonio Santillan (13-7-2, 8 KOs), the former International Boxing Organization (IBO) Welterweight Champion.
Their friendship is critical in terms of Commey’s return and they’re doing it together.
“I have a great relationship with Sadam,” Commey explained. “I was training in his gym when I wasn’t world champ and I’m still training there. I stayed in camp with him when he became world champion. We are very good friends – like family – especially when we talk about boxing.”
A former World Boxing Organization (WBO) and 2008 U.S. Olympian, Ali’s company, World Kid, is promoting this event, its first since 2012, which was also held in Brooklyn. Ali captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Junior Middleweight World title in 2017, upsetting Miquel Cotto (41-5) at the famed Madison Square Garden.
Ghana-native Commey, who fights out of The Bronx, faces an opponent to be finalized in an eight-round welterweight bout. The 37-year-old Commey captured the vacant IBF crown on February 2, 2019, when he stopped Isa Chaniev (13-1) in the second round. Three-and-one-half months later, Commey successfully defended his title with an eighth-round stoppage of Raymundo Beltran (36-8-1).
Commey was idle for the last two years because of life and managerial issues that are now resolved. He’s returning to the ring, not for a one-and-done fight, but for a final career run.
“I had to clear my mind,” Commey talked about his situation that kept him out of the ring. “This is the first of many fights to follow, but I still have to look at my performance that will tell me about upcoming fights.”
The co-featured event will spotlight a YouTube sensation, East Meadow (NY) junior welterweight Adam Saleh (1-0-1, 0 KOs), who is supported by his nearly 5-million subscribers, in a four-round match against TBA.
Undefeated Brooklyn bantamweight prospect Khalid Twaiti (14-0, 5 KOs), runner-up in the 2015 USA National Championships, is coming off his first 10-round fight last October, in which he won by way of a dominant unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 98-91) over Emmanuel Rodriguez (15-1) in Newark, New Jersey.
Other fighters on the undercard include Brooklyn junior lightweight “Speedy” Chiara Dituri (9-2, 3 KOs) in a six-round match, as well as pro-debuting New York City junior middleweight Jahanze Riswan, and pro-debuting light heavyweight Mike Boyle, who is a Yonkers (NY) firefighter, in a pair of four-rounders.
Card subject to change.
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OPEN FIGHTER WORKOUTS
Ali, Saleh, Commey, Twaitti, Rizwan, Dituri and Boyle will hold open workouts – media and public welcome – on Tuesday, Feb. 18 (between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET), at Sadam Ali Boxing Gym, located at 468 Halsey Street in Brooklyn.
Ticket prices range between $43.00 and $206.00 and are available for purchase online at https://www.kingstheatre.com/events/sadam-ali/.
Doors open at 3 p.m. ET with the first bout at 4 p.m. ET.