‘Don’t rule George Kambosos out’ against Teofimo Lopez says Eddie Hearn

By Boxing News - 10/23/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn warns Teofimo Lopez that he can’t rule out George Kambosos Jr. in their fight on November 27th at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hearn believes Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs) has a chance to win this fight.

The oddsmakers will likely install Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) as a massive favorite to obliterate the weaker, less experienced Kambosos by an early knockout.

Kambosos is a speed bump in the road for Teofimo to briefly slow down before he runs him over on November 27th.

Teofimo, 24, has got to get Kambosos for once and for all, as he’s invested a year of his life by choosing to take this non-marquee fight through the purse bid process rather than letting his promoters at Top Rank put it on ESPN.

Teofimo’s contract with Top Rank will be expiring soon, and he’s likely to sign with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing company.

It’ll be interesting to see if Hearn can set Teofimo up with some big fights because he’s failed to do so with WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade and Devin Haney.

Hearn says Kambosos “tough fight” for Teofimo

It’s only our first crack at the fight. Hopefully, we nail it in one,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV on the November 27th contest between Teofimo and Kambosos on DAZN.

Image: 'Don't rule George Kambosos out' against Teofimo Lopez says Eddie Hearn

“We were waiting for a long time to get this fight. Obviously, we made a big bid initially. We were trumped by a crazy bid [by Triller], and obviously, that crazy bid never materialized.

We get blessed with the Teofimo – Kambosos fight, promoted by Matchroom, live on DAZN around the world, at Madison Square Garden in New York, and I can’t wait.

“This young man [Teofimo]. You saw after the Mikey Garcia [vs. Sandor Martin] fight. Great energy [between Teofimo and Devin Haney]. This is what we want.

“We want young studs, young stallions facing off against each other, and we want great energy. We want that edge, and Teofimo has got the edge. Before we get on Teofimo and Haney, we got a lot of edge between Teofimo and Kambosos.

“I remember seeing their first presser where he starts stripping off, and I can’t wait to promote that fight. It’s a blessing to do that, especially in New York,” Hearn said of the Teofimo vs. Kambosos match.

“That’s a tough fight. That’s not an easy fight, and a lot has happened. It’s been a long period of inactivity for Teofimo Lopez [12 months], and don’t rule George Kambosos out of that fight either,”  said Hearn.

Kambosos looked pretty basic in his best wins against Mickey Bey and Lee Selby, barely beating them by split decisions.

Unless the downtime of 12 months has hit Teofimo hard, robbing him of his power, skills, and youth, he’s likely going to smash Kambosos Jr on November 27th.

The most challenging part of the Teofimo-Kambosos fight for Teofimo is enduring all the talk from Kambosos during their press conferences and weigh-in.

Once Teofimo gets to the actual fight with the Australian, it’s going to be easy for him, and his first round knockout prediction will likely ring true.

Teofimo vs. Haney could be next

“If Teofimo gets through and if Devin [gets past Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. on December 4th], and hopefully we can get this Jojo Diaz fight made, that’s the natural fight for boxing, Teofimo against Devin Haney.

“Speaking to the representatives of Jojo Diaz, We want to make the fight. We’re doing everything we can to make the fight [with Devin Haney],  but we need to get it done in the next few days. We’ve made an offer.

“We’ve made a bigger offer than what he [Jojo Diaz] was going to make fighting Ryan Garcia. I can’t see in a million years that he wouldn’t take the fight, but anything can happen. But hopefully, we can get it ironed out in the next couple of days.

“Correct,” said Hearn when asked if the date of the Haney vs. Jojo Diaz Jr. fight is on December 4th. “Vegas.”

We’ve got a long way to go before a possible Teofimo vs. Kambosos fight can take place in 2022. Haney still needs to win his title defense against Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. on December 4th, and that’s not a sure thing win for Devin.

If you were one of the boxing fans that saw Haney go life and death with Jorge Linares earlier this year on May 29th, you’d likely be picking Jojo Diaz to beat him.

Linares could have knocked Haney out in that fight after hurting him in the ninth round. Haney never recovered from that shots and was getting rocked left and right by Linares.

At this point in his career, the 28-year-old Jojo Diaz is a better fighter than the 35-year-old Linares, and it’s entirely possible that he’ll beat Haney.

It would be a good idea for Hearn to know what he’s getting the 22-year-old Haney into by letting him fight Jojo Diaz. If Haney loses the fight with Jojo, Hearn can forget about matching Devin against Teofimo in 2022.

No one will want to see Haney coming off a knockout loss to Jojo taking on Teofimo.

 

 

 

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