By Jim Calfa: Vasily Lomachenko has undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in his target sights once he takes care of business against former IBF 135-lb champion Richard Commey on December 11th.
Lomachenko would be a very difficult opponent for Kambosos, so it’s not likely the Australian will agree to fight him. He appears to be looking to cash in rather than fight someone that will beat him in his first defense.
Until last weekend, Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) had planned on facing Teofimo Lomachenko to avenge his loss and take back his IBF, WBA, WBC, Franchise & WBO lightweight titles.
Lomachenko lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Teofimo in October 2020, and he’s been pushing for a rematch ever since.
With Teofimo surprisingly losing a 12 round split decision to the unbeaten but previously untested Australian Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs), he’s no longer of interest for the former three-division world champion Lomachenko.
Lomachenko wants Kambosos’ belts
“Of course, for belts. It’s my goal in boxing now. Undisputed world champion, this is my motivation,” said Lomachenko to Sky Sports.
“We’ll see. Of course, I want this fight, but first of all, I have a fight on December 11, and my focus is on this fight,” Lomachenko said when asked if he wants to face undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos after his clash against Richard Commey this month.
However, getting a title shot against Kambosos may prove difficult for Lomachenko because the Australian and his promoter Lou DiBella are looking at other options for his first fight as the undisputed lightweight champion.
The top lightweights in the division rarely mention Lomachenko, and it’s apparent that he’s being frozen out due to him being a high risk to the younger fighters.
The likely only way Lomachenko will get a chance to fight Kambosos is if the World Boxing Council orders the fight, but they’re not going to do that.
Lomachenko needs to fight in a WBC-sanctioned lightweight title eliminator to become mandatory to Kambosos’ belt with that organization.
Kambosos says he’ll be attending this weekend’s Devin Haney vs. Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz fights on a “scouting mission.”
The idea is for Kambosos to pick the best performing winner of those two fights as his next opponent.
On paper, Gervonta (25-0, 24 KOs) will quickly bring the most money for Kambosos if that’s his focus, and he’s the far more dangerous and entertaining fighter than WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.
Kambosos’ win surprised Loma
Kambosos doesn’t need to attend both of those fights to learn that Tank Davis will be the more impressive fighter in those two matches, as Haney is a spoiler who plays it safe, fighting on the outside, jabbing, and moving around the ring. When pressed, Haney moves and ties up his opponents to keep them from getting their shots off.
Although Haney’s fighting style has been compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr., it’s the older, slower, flat-footed version of ‘Money,’ not the younger one knocking out his opponents at 130.
“After this fight, I can talk about my future.” Before the [Teofimo-Kambosos] fight, I gave some chance for Kambosos, but of course, I thought Lopez would win this fight, but it is what it is. This is boxing life,” Lomachenko said.
Next week, Lomachenko faces Commey (30-3, 27 KOs) in the headliner on ESPN on December 11th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The fight is potentially dangerous for Lomachenko because Commey is just as big a puncher as former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo. Still, he’s not as big as him in terms of weight.
Teofimo stopped Commey in the second round to take his IBF 135-lb title away from him two years ago on December 14th, 2019. Since then, Commey has fought once, defeating Jackson Marinez by a sixth round knockout last February.
Lomachenko looking for another win
As for Lomachenko, he bounced back from his loss to Teofimo last year to defeat Masayoshi Nakatani by a ninth round knockout last June.
Lomachenko repeatedly asked Teofimo for a rematch, but the New Yorker turned him down, saying he didn’t have to because he had failed to include a rematch clause in their contract.
Many boxing fans saw this as a case of Teofimo lacking the confidence to face Lomachenko again, as he would have made more money fighting him than the little-known Kambosos.