By Sean Jones: George Kambosos Jr. says he will be defending his undisputed lightweight championship in May against possibly Devin Haney or Vasily Lomachenko in Australia.
Those are two of the names that Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) mentions that are strong possibilities to face him in a stadium fight in Sydney or Melbourne, Australia, in the next four months.
It’s essential to Kambosos that he fights a “big name” opponent, and they’re willing to travel to Australia to face him in front of his home country boxing fans.
Thus far, WBC lightweight champion Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) and former three-division world champion Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) tick both boxes as big-name fighters willing to travel to Australia to face the 28-year-old Kambosos.
It’s believed that the 23-year-old light-hitting Haney has the inside track to get the fight with Kambosos, as he’s less of a threat to beating him than Lomachenko and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing appears to be willing to make a sizable offer to get the match done.
In contrast, Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum might not be willing to put in a massive offer for the fight, knowing that the U.S boxing fans won’t be highly excited about a Kambosos-Lomachenko fight. The problem is, Kambosos not being a well-known fighter in the eyes of casual boxing fans.
Kambosos fighting in May in Australia
The newly crowned IBF, WBA, WBC Franchise & WBO lightweight champion Kambosos Jr. is coming off a career-best 12 round unanimous decision upset-win over champion Teofimo Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) on November 27th at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Although Kambosos talks about him dominating Teofimo, that wasn’t the case. There were rounds where Kambosos took punishment, and he came close to being stopped in the tenth after being knocked down.
For Kambosos to hold onto his four titles, he’ll need to fight a lot better, be it against Haney or Lomachenko. Both of those fighters are excellent, and you’d have to say that Kambosos will be the underdog should his promoter Lou DiBella choose one of them as his foe in May.
“I reached the top of the mountain, and now there’s another mountain, and I’ll climb that one as well,” said Kambosos to FoxSports. “I’m very stubborn. When I get something, I want to hold onto that forever,” said Kambosos about him not letting go of his four straps.
“It’s going to be in May. May is going to be a great time,” said Kambosos when asked when he’ll be fighting next. “The built-up, the name, there’s going to be the build-up.
“My entire career has been the hard road. There’s never been an easy option for me. I’ve always had to grind,” said Kambosos when asked why he doesn’t take an easy opponent for his next contest.
“We’ve got to really let Australia know what’s going on and how big this fight will be. This will be the biggest fight in Australian history.
“It’ll be a stadium fight in Sydney or Melbourne. We’re in negotiations with both, and it’ll be very exciting.
“I wouldn’t be real to the crowd if I told them I’m coming back for an easy fight. What for? I’m coming for the big names, and we’ve already in negotiations with everybody,” said Kambosos.
It’s challenging to imagine Kambosos facing Lomachenko because he’s so far advanced, and it would be too much of a step up from his last fight against the sickly Teofimo.
One clear thing is that Teofimo wasn’t at his best physically from the throat injury that he came into the fight with and the weight that he had to lose to get down to the 135-lb limit. In other words, this wasn’t the best version of Teofimo that we saw last November.
Kambosos’ promoter Lou DiBella is wise, and he’ll know what the likely result will be if he matches him up against Lomachenko in May.
Lomachenko has looked outstanding in his two fights against Masayoshi Nakatani and Richard Commey since losing his WBA, WBC Franchise & WBO 135-lb titles to Teofimo in October 2020.
With how Lomachenko is firing on all eight cylinders now, DiBella will make sure that he doesn’t choose him as Kambosos’ next opponent due to the high probability of him beating the Australian.
Even if the money from fighting Haney isn’t as good as it would be for a fight with Lomachenko, it’s predictable that DiBella will go with the former rather than the latter.
If Kambosos wants to hold onto “them beautiful belts,” as he calls them, he’s going to need to stay far, far away from Lomachenko because he’s not in the same galaxy as him in terms of talent.
Haney & Lomachenko in the spotlight
Kambosos unwittingly revealed his hand on who he’ll be fighting next when he blurted Haney’s name when asked who his next opponent will be in May.
Mentioning Haney’s name is a clear signal that he’s the one that Kambosos’ team is working on, and considered the ideal option.
What makes Haney the better choice than Lomachenko is that he’s arguably far less talented, can’t punch, and he’s been hurt in his last two fights against Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. and Jorge Linares.
“I love the Haney fight, and I love the WBC piece,” Kambosos continued in revealing a couple of options his team are looking at for his fight in May in Australia.
“I love the Lomachenko fight. A big name and Tank Davis as well. Ryan Garcia has got a huge name. I want to see him back in the ring first,” said Kambosos.
“We’re sitting here negotiating, making sure they’ll come to Australia first. That’s the most important that they’ll travel down. I know for a fact that Haney will and Lomachenko will. So that is a big plus right away,” Kambosos said.
Kambosos Jr. is right about Lomachenko and Haney being the ones willing to travel right now to Australia for the fight.
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and his promoters at Mayweather Promotions likely won’t consider going to Australia for a fight with Kambosos.
As for Ryan Garcia, his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are expected to bring him back against a soft touch for his next fight, and they won’t put him in the line of fire in his first fight back from a year-long layoff, injuries, and mental health woes.
George wants to defeat all the top lightweights
If Kambosos had more talent, he could run the table in beating all the top lightweights in the division, but he doesn’t. The wheels will come off for Kambosos against these fighters:
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Michel Rivera
- Isaac Cruz
Ryan Garcia and Haney are too flawed to be counted on to defeat Kambosos, which is why they’re ideal picks for his promoter DiBella.
“Roberto Duran, no matter what I do, he’ll be the greatest lightweight,” said Kambosos. “That’s the respect I show to the champion of that caliber. But I’m chasing greatness here at lightweight, and the way I’m built as a lightweight is perfect.
“There are some good names and great names here in the lightweight division that I need to take out, and I will take out one by one, and then we will see. Maybe in two or three rounds time, we’ll see what interests me.
Discipline!! Im never content, I live for this 🏆 https://t.co/83uxF4MbFG
— George “Ferocious” Kambosos Jr (@georgekambosos) January 10, 2022
“I know in that fight, people say, ‘Can Kambosos get better than that?’ Yes, because that was just 20%. There were things I saw where I felt I could have done better. I could have put him away instead of winning on points in the fight.
“I’m still learning and a student of this game. If you think you’ve achieved everything and you can’t get better, and you get too big for your own shoes, that’s when you’re going to fall over.
“That’s not me. A warrior continues to grind and sharpen his sword, and that’s what I’ll continue to do in getting better and better.
“It was a nice shot, nice and crisp,” said Kambosos about the punch he dropped Teofimo with in the first round. “I’ve always had a beautiful right hand.
“I said, ‘You know what? This guy doesn’t respect me, and he doesn’t think I can punch. I’m going to show him.’ In that first round, I hit him with my best right hand that I had,” said Kambosos.
