Teofimo vs. Kambosos finally happening on November 27th on DAZN

By Boxing News - 10/20/2021 - Comments

By Huck Allen: IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez gets to finally make his mandatory defense against IBF challenger George Kambosos Jr. on November 27th in the main event, LIVE on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Teofimo  (16-0, 12 KOs) and Kambosos Jr. (19-0, 10 KOs) have been marinating for the last four months after it was initially scheduled for June.

If Teofimo wins, as many expect him to, he’ll have one more fight at 135 against WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney in early 2022 and then move up to 140 to challenge undisputed light welterweight champion, Josh Taylor.

That’s the fight the boxing public wants to see, Teofimo vs. Taylor. Don’t get me wrong; there will be a ton of interest from fans in watching Teofimo defend against Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) in the first quarter of 2022, but nothing like what it’ll be for Teo to take on Josh Taylor.  That’s going to be epic, let me tell you.

Teofimo happy to be fighting Kambosos

“The time has finally come!” said Teofimo about his long-awaited mandatory defense against Kambosos. “It has been a long wait for Team Takeover.

“We’ve been in the zone for six months and counting, but we’re pleased to be able to get this fight on DAZN finally! The Takeover will show the world once again why we are called ‘The People’s Champ,'” said Teofimo.

On November 27th, Teofimo, 24, will be fighting for the first time since unseating IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO 135-lb champion Vasily Lomachenko by a 12 round unanimous decision in October 2020.

That was a career-best win for the New York native Teofimo, and it was thought that he would quickly lead to other great fights.

Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t on Teofimo’s side, as the International Boxing Federation ordered him to defend against mandatory Kambosos in a non-marquee match.

In a move that will be forever second-guessed, Teofimo chose not to bypass the fight with Kambosos by vacating the belt to go after bigger paydays.

Instead, Teofimo sacrificed a year of his career by choosing to take the match, and it cost him a lot of money and a lot of time. Teofimo could have fought 2 to 3 times in the last year and made tons of dough.

Giving up the IBF belt or asking them for an exception so that he could have fought Haney or a rematch with Lomachenko would have been the wiser course for Teofimo to take, but it appears that he and his dad decided to defend against Kambosos.

They probably saw it as an easy-money fight, which it arguably is, but it was a wrong move on their part.

Kambosos ready to shock the world

“I know they will give this fight the respect it deserves, and I will shock the world and be crowned World Champion on November 27 in New York City,” said Kambosos Jr.

It would be a massive win for Kambosos to defeat Teofimo, and it should be fun to see if he can pull it off. I mean, Lomachenko isn’t the biggest puncher, and he had Teofimo looking in distress during the second half of their fight.

Kambosos is undefeated, but he’s not fought anyone of quality during his career. Best wins were against faded fighters Lee Selby and Mickey Bey. Those guys used to be good fighters many years ago, but by the time Kambosos fought them, they were on the downside of their respective careers.

We all would have liked to have seen Kambosos earn his IBF mandatory spot by fighting Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, Richard Commey, or Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr., but if he had fought those guys, he’d likely have been weeded out a long time ago.