By Jack Tiernan: People saying that George Kambosos is an “easy touch” after his win over Teofimo Lopez last Saturday night is “disrespectful” to the Australian fighter, says Matchroom head honcho Eddie Hearn.
Eddie states that Kambosos’ 12 round split decision win over IBF, WBA, WBC Franchise & WBO lightweight champion Teofimo (16-1, 12 KOs) last Saturday night in New York automatically makes him the top dog in the 135-lb division.
Why is Hearn so protective of Kambosos?
One could argue that the main reason Hearn likely has his back up over the various fighters at 130 and 135 viewing Kambosos as an easy mark is that they’re in the running to get a fight against the Australian.
It wouldn’t make Hearn happy if someone like Gervonta Davis gets to Kambosos before his fighter Devin Haney because he’ll likely easily expose the Australian by trouncing him to take his four lightweight titles.
It would be bad for Hearn if Tank gets to Kambosos first because this is a golden opportunity for the Matchroom promoter to turn Haney into a star overnight, even if it means doing it superficially by beating a flawed fighter.
Kambosos is a soft touch and will be beaten by Tank and many other fighters from the 130 and 135-lb weight classes.
Eddie is a little worked up after seeing Kambosos criticized by boxing fans and targeted by the top 135-pounders, who view him as food.
It’s unclear why Hearn sounds so protective of Kambosos because he’s not signed with his Matchroom promotional stable.
During an interview on Wednesday, Hearn sounded like Kambosos was one of his fighters rather than a guy signed with DiBella Entertainment.
Despite Kambosos’ win over previously unbeaten Teofimo, the Australian is seen as an easy target by the top rung fighters at 135. Even the 130-pound fighters smell food after watching Kambosos.
Shakur Stevenson would be a headache for Kambosos, as would Oscar Valdez, Chris Colbert, and Shavkat Rakhimov. Those guys are all from the super featherweight division, but they would likely beat Kambosos.
It’s disrespectful to say Kambosos is an “easy touch”
“There’s definitely people looking at Kambosos saying, ‘I can beat him,’ whether it’s Tank, Gervonta, whether it’s Devin,” said Hearn to Boxing Social. “But you’ve got to respect what he’s just done. George Kambosos has come to America and beaten Teofimo Lopez.
“He hasn’t done it by getting on his bike for 12 rounds. He’s got it by holding his feet, gritting his teeth, and by fighting back, trading up, and boxing smart and moving.
“It was such a brilliant performance, so I think it’s disrespectful to say that George Kambosos is an easy touch. He just beat Teofimo, who beat Lomachenko. So George disserves respect and credit, and right now, he’s the man. I don’t mind saying it.
“Devin Haney is my man, but massive respect for George and his dad. But right now, George is the man; he has the standout victory in the division.
And this win for Devin this Saturday [against Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr] will be another standout victory, and then the two MUST meet,” said Hearn.
The boxing public and top fighters aren’t “disrespectful” to Kambosos by saying that they view him as beatable and not as good as some think he is. Let’s face reality.
Teofimo looked like a drained shell of the fighter he was two years ago in the prime of his career, and it’s clear that success has gone to his head.
The young dynamite fighter that we saw two years ago rolling over Richard Commey, Diego Magdaleno, and Edis Tatli has now been replaced by a lethargic plodder, a light-hitting Kambosos manhandled.
Two years ago, if Teofimo had fought Kambosos, he would have likely steamrolled him in two rounds, but not the version of him we saw last Saturday.
Top fighters like Shakur Stevenson, Vasily Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, for example, all know what they see in Kambosos. Hence, they will want to fight him because they view him as a sure-thing win for easy money.
Hearn: Teofimo must move away from delusion
“Let’s see what happens this Saturday and start those conversations on Sunday,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social on his desire to put together a fight between Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr.
“The numbers were massive on DAZN, even in the UK, particularly in Australia and the U.S,” said Hearn about the viewing numbers for the Teofimo Lopez vs. Kambosos fight last Saturday night.
“It was one of the highest viewership we’ve had across the whole of DAZN since we launched, and we expect the same kind of numbers this Saturday [for Haney vs. Jojo Diaz Jr.].
“It was such a massive success for us, for the fighters, even Teofimo. I feel for him. His dad seems to want to blame me for the loss, which sort of comes with the territory.
“All of a sudden, he [Teofimo] lost a decision that everybody thought he lost, and it was my fault and DAZN’s fault. So, you can’t reason with someone like that.
“He’s called me a couple of times and messaged me, saying, ‘I can’t believe what you did.’ I just went back to him and said, ‘Listen, we treated you with unbelievable respect.’ I love Teofimo; I love his dad. They’re good people, but you have to move away from delusion.
“At some point, you have to be strong enough. If Teofimo Sr. is saying that kind of stuff, how do you expect your son to learn and reflect on what happened? You got beat; it’s no disgrace. Take it on the chin and come again.
“You’re an amazing fighter. He’ll come back and be a world champion again. But that goes back to the corner worked [by Teofimo Sr.]. If you’re listening to delusion or bad instructions, how do you expect to change and adapt.
“Just read, look at the polls. Virtually everyone had Kambosos winning that fight,” said Hearn on the Teofimo-Kambosos clash. “So take it on the chin and move on, and people will respect you for doing that to come back stronger,” said Hearn.
If Teofimo had the popularity of Canelo Alvarez, he likely would have been given the division last Saturday night. He was landing the much harder shots than Kambosos in every round, which is why one of the judges gave him the victory.
As a result, you can’t blame Teofimo for believing he deserved the victory because his punches had a lot more mustard on them than the pitty-pat shots from Kambosos.