Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey fight to split draw

Super lightweights Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey both needed a win, but Pedraza’s skillful boxing should have captured him the win. Instead, it was a draw.  

Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey came into their Aug. 27 super lightweight showdown off a loss and badly needing a victory. It looked like the fight favored Pedraza, but the judges saw things differently.

Pedraza and Commey fought to a split draw at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, OK. Fans didn’t seem to agree as Pedraza appeared to have the better night.

Pedraza (30-4, 14 KOs), 33, Cidra, Puerto Rico, looked good in round 1 but struggled in round d 2. Commey’s power moved Pedraza back and had him on the defensive for the first part of the contest.

While Commey looked like he was taking over the bout, Pedraza shifted his energy to Commey’s body. Commey was still getting to him, but Pedraza’s bodywork started to increase.

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Commey (30-5, 27 KOs), 35, Bronx, NY, suffered bad luck in round 6. He and Pedraza clashed heads, which caused a cut over Commey’s left eye. He never seemed the same from that moment on.

Super lightweights Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey fought to a split draw in their Aug. 27 ESPN main event

The cut bothered Commey, who pawed at the blood coming from his brow, but Pedraza’s body punching made the bigger impact. He systematically broke Commey down, and Commey looked spent in the final two rounds.

With Commey tired, Pedraza connected with lefts to Commey’s head out of the southpaw stance in round 9. Commey didn’t retaliate and had to run for much of the round. Commey looked better in round 10, but Pedraza had all the momentum.

The judges returned a scores of 97-93 for Pedraza, 96-94 for Commey and 95-95, making the fight a split draw. It was a competitive bout but one that Pedraza deserved to win.

According to CompuBox stats, Pedraz landed 16 more punches than Commey and was far more accurate. Commey threw more punches but only connected on 21.8 percent of them to Pedraza’s 33.3 percent.

Pedraza and Commey are both former boxing champions looking for one more shot at a title but will probably need another competitive bout before being considered for a contest of that level. Pedraza didn’t get the win but provided a stronger performance.