By Sean Jones: Tim Bradley predicts an early knockout victory for IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez over George Kambosos Jr. on October 4th.
The fight will be shown on Triller pay-per-view. Interestingly, Teofimo doesn’t regret forcing his non-marquee fight against the obscure contender Kambosos, 28, though the purse bid route rather than listening to his promoters at Top Rank and having the fight take place on regular ESPN.
That decision by Teofimo has resulted in him sitting for an entire year, costing him at least two extra fights he could have slipped in during that 12 month time.
The $4 million that Teofimo is getting for this low-level defense against Kambosos Jr. is a huge amount of money for a mismatch. Still, when you factor in that he’s missed two extra fights because of that decision, he’s basically getting $1.3 million for the fight.
If Teofimo had listened to his wise promoter Bob Arum, he’d have made more money in the last 12 months. Oh well, Teofimo thought he was making the right decision. Now, we’ll see if he continues to shoot himself in the foot in the future.
Bradley feels that Kambosos’s aggressive fighting style will result in him walking into a “nasty” shot from the unbeaten Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) that will spark him out.
The 24-year-old Teofimi could be making his last defense of his belts when he defends against his IBF mandatory Kambosos Jr. (19-0, 10 KOs) next month on October 4th at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Teofimo will catch Kambosos with a big shot
“Kambosos has flaws in his game that Teo can take advantage of,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype on Teofimo’s October 4th defense against Kambosos Jr.
“I think Kambosos has a better chance now because of everything Teofimo has gone through, but talking to him tonight, it seems like he has a plan.
“I asked him tonight, ‘Would you still make the decision you made and [go with Triller] and he said, ‘Yes.’
“So, I respect that. Going through what he went through, sitting on the sidelines, going through COVID and having his fight date changed, and being ridiculed by myself.
“This is what you asked for. He’s standing like a man and saying, ‘Yes, I stand by what I believe, and I don’t care what anybody else believes. So I respect that.
“Kambosos, it’s either going to be an overhand right or a left hook,” said Bradley about the punch Teofimo will use to knock out the little-known Australian fighter on October 4th.
“Kambosos is a shorter fighter, and he’s coming to come in and try to take chances. He’s going to try and bully all the anger that’s been built up with him [Kambosos]. He’s going to come and probably get caught with something nasty,” said Bradley.
Kambosos has faced so many mediocre fighters that he’s picked up bad habits that would have been weened out of him years ago if he’d been fighting quality guys.
It makes sense what Bradley says about Teofimo catching Kambosos with a big shot within the first four rounds. Given how aggressive Kambosos is, we might see this fight end in the first round.
If the Australian goes full steam ahead like he always does, he’s going to walk into a big right hand from Teofimo early and get torpedoed.
It’s too bad Kambosos Jr. had never fought anyone good during his career to prepare him for this kind of fight against Teofimo because he’s really out of his element.
Up until now, the best two fighters Kambosos Jr. has fought during his eight-year professional career were an old Lee Selby and Mickey Bey, and he barely scraped by those two in winning split decisions.
It’s safe to say that if the International Boxing Federation had ordered Kambosos Jr. to fight one of these guys in a title eliminator, he would have never become mandatory:
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
- Maxi Hughes
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Richard Commey
- Masayoshi Nakatani
- Jorge Linares
- Michel Rivera
- Jovanni Straffon
Kambosos Jr. is a decent bottom fringe-level fighter in Sean Jones’ view, but he sure as heck doesn’t belong at #1, and that’s why this fight is a voluntary defense in many respects for Teofimo.
You can’t call this is a true mandatory because those usually come against great talents, and that’s not the case here. It’s just a gimme for Teofimo, and the only way he loses is if he suffers an injury.
Bradley: Kambosos won’t make it past 4 rounds
“Teo looks like he’s been staying in really good shape,” Bradley said. “He looks fit. He looks lean and looks mean. So we’ll see.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Teo, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Kambosos in the ring. Nobody has an advantage there, and I’m looking forward to the fight.
“I think Lopez knocks Kambosos out, and it won’t go past four rounds,” said Bradley. “I’m not going to lie. Kambosos is game, but can he take a punch? That’s the thing.
“You can take too many chances too early, and I worry about that. I don’t know what his game plan is, but he’s not going to outbox Teofimo.
“Teo was able to outbox Lomachenko to get the victory, so he’s not going to be able to outbox Teo. So the only other thing he can do is fight him and fight him hard. Is he [Kambosos] big enough?
“I don’t know. Is he strong enough? I don’t know. Is he fast enough? I don’t know. Is he smart enough? I don’t think so. We’ll see. This is boxing,” said Bradley.
I have to agree with Bradley with his fourth round or less prediction for Teofimo, as Kambosos Jr. is a reckless sort of fighter who will go straight into the teeth of Teo’s offense and wind up going to taking a nap.
I wouldn’t bank too much on Teofimo’s win over an injured Vasily Lomachenko as an indication that he can’t be beaten. Lomachenko stops Teofimo with ease if they fight again, but it doesn’t look like they will be.
Teofimo said last Friday that he’s moving up to 140, which will save him from getting embarrassed by Lomachenko in the rematch. It’s a smart move by Teofimo, and you can bet that he’s taking this route because he knows he can’t beat a healthy Lomachenko.
