After the fight: From Josh Warrington disappointment to Richard Commey reclamation

Josh Warrington suffered a calamitous knockout loss to Mauricio Lara, but he can take steps to rebuild much in the same manner as Richard Commey.

Not too many people foresaw Josh Warrington losing to Mauricio Lara by knockout, but the critical hyperbole that followed is unwarranted.

Social media can be a scary place for a boxer, especially after an unexpected loss. Before the fight, Warrington’s critics slammed him for fighting the unheralded Lara and vacating his IBF featherweight title. They saw that as a dodge of his IBF mandatory obligation to Kid Galahad.

Lara did what few expected, and he knocked out the former IBF champion in round 9 of their Feb. 13 bout. That gave Warrington’s social media haters added ammunition to unreasonably assault Warrington’s legacy.

I’ve said it before in other columns, but the emphasis on wins and losses is as excessive as the recent production of alphabet belts. A boxer shouldn’t be judged based on a single performance. Their body of work tells that their tale of the tape, and before the Lara fight, Warrington’s record was unblemished, and his accomplishments were sterling. They still are.

Many boxing fans have a short memory. Anyone who can beat Carl Frampton and Lee Selby deserves respect and recognition as an elite fighter. The Leeds Warrior has proven himself over the years, and his past greatness shouldn’t be diminished because of his shortcomings against Lara.

Before the Lara fight, Warrington explained his reasons for leaving the IBF belt behind. He wanted fights against Gary Russell Jr. and Can Xu, but he lost. His next move is in limbo while he and his team generate a plan of action. He’s far from the first boxer to be defeated by a little-known challenger who people didn’t give a chance of winning.

Richard Commey’s situation wasn’t the same as Warrington’s. Commey lost his IBF lightweight title to Teofimo Lopez after being stopped in round 2 of their 2019 title fight. Lopez was well known and the favorite despite being the challenger, but his quick and violent displacement of Commey made people question Commey’s abilities and future.

Mauricio Lara pulled off an impressive upset against Josh Warrington, but you can’t count a champion like Warrington out

Also, unlike Warrington, Commey had lost before, albeit not by knockout. Commey dusted a few losses off his shoulder to excel his abilities to new heights, which resulted in him winning his first world title against Ray Beltran in 2019.

Commey and Warrington’s paths intersect with other current and past boxing greats, having suffered their first knockout loss. Watching a great fighter get knocked out is a shock to the system, but it’s not an eraser of past achievements.

Lennox Lewis, Roman Gonzalez, Manny Pacquiao, and Miguel Cotto are a few fighters that have gone on to have second and third acts after being knocked out. In other cases like Roy Jones Jr.’s, one knockout spelled the beginning of the end to a Hall of Fame career.

Commey started to put the memory of Dec. 14, 2019, behind him with an authoritative knockout win over Jackson Marinez this past weekend. Some thought Lopez exposed a weak chin on Commey. Commey felt he made a costly mistake against an excellent boxer. He never lost faith in his abilities or his desire to bounce back from his lone stoppage.

Against a solid boxer in Marinez, Commey proved that he still has something left and is one of the lightweight division’s best punchers. His right hand is something to marvel at. Whether or not he can regain a world title is a question that will be answered over time. Even if he doesn’t, Commey deserves respect for putting it all on the line as every boxer does every time they step into the ring. He has achieved much more than most who have laced up a pair of boxing gloves.

Warrington is more than worthy of that same recognition and honor. He’s only 30 years old and could work his way back into title contention as others have.  The loss to Lara could prove to be the outcome of a poor fight strategy and a momentary mistake.

On the other hand, Warrington may have taken his quotient of punches and be on the decline. The only way to know for sure is to step into the ring and give it another go. If that’s the case, then so be it, but give Warrington his due as a former world champion who battled some of boxing’s best and came out the other side victorious.