Lightweight contenders Richard Commey and Jackson Marinez woke up Thursday morning ready to battle in a 10-round co-feature.
After Maxim Vlasov tested positive for COVID-19, scrapping his light heavyweight title tilt against Joe Smith Jr., Commey and Marinez were elevated to main event status.
They will do battle Saturday evening (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) from the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble, a three-bout telecast also featuring Adam Lopez defending his NABF featherweight belt in a 10-rounder against Jason Sanchez, and heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson against Kingsley Ibeh in a six-rounder.
Two days before fight night, this is what Commey and Marinez had to say.
Richard Commey
“It’s been over a year since I fought. I lost my {title} to Teofimo {Lopez}. It was a little bit hard for me to take it… It’s done, and I learned what I had to learn from it. I learned my lesson. It’s redemption time for Commey because I still got a lot in there, and I want to be a two-time world champion.”
“I don’t have that much to prove to myself. I want to be a two-time world champion, so it’s time for me. Once I win this fight, there will be a lot of doors open for me. The lightweight division is packed now. Winning this fight would put me back in the mix.”
“I’m coming back off a loss, and he’s coming back off a loss. It makes sense. It’s a great fight for me to come back.”
Jackson Marinez
“Regarding the experience of fighting {Rolando} Romero, the whole world saw what happened. Right now, I see myself as a king without a crown, and even though I lost in controversial fashion, it opened up bigger opportunities for me. I’m taking full advantage of them.”
“I just want to make it clear that we never got offered the rematch {with Romero}. We were looking for it. We were in the media doing interviews looking for it. When they saw that after a couple of months I got this big opportunity against Commey, that’s when they went to social media and were saying that I was ducking him and didn’t want to face him again. Right now, I have a great opponent in front of me, a former world champion, and I’m ready to take advantage of this opportunity. I’m excited and proud to face someone like Commey.”
