By Adam Baskin: George Kambosos Jr says he’s got a “big stadium fight’ in the pipeline next against Vasily Lomachenko after earning the IBF lightweight mandatory position with a victory over Maxi Hughes last Saturday night in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Kambosos vs. Lomachenko could do big business in Australia in a huge 56,000+ seat Marvel stadium in Melbourne, which was the location for George’s first fight with Devin Haney.
Provided that the Aussie fans turn up to buy tickets, there’s excellent money to be made by Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) and #3 Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) to make later this year for the soon-to-be vacated IBF lightweight title.
Kambosos-Lomachenko will be huge
Business-wise, a fight between Lomachenko & Kambosos makes a lot of sense. This would be a PPV clash for Australian fans but obviously not for the Americans.
Many people are angry after watching Kambosos win a controversial twelve-round majority decision over the highly skilled southpaw Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) last Saturday night, winning by the scores 114-114, 117-111, and 115-113.
As the saying goes, ‘It’s a real bad wind that doesn’t blow someone some good.’ In this case, Lomachenko & the boxing public can benefit from a Loma – Kambosos fight because it’ll attract a lot of interest
“I gave him a little more opportunities than I should have. He can think whatever he wants; it doesn’t bother me,” said Kambosos to the media when told that Shakur Stevenson thought he lost to Hughes.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve had all the belts at lightweight. We got a big stadium fight coming,” said Kambosos Jr.
“We’ll fight Lomachenko next. That’s the fight. He’s more open to throw his shots and engage. I want to engage, and that’s a big fight that I get up for,” said Kambosos Jr.
In hindsight, Kambosos needed more southpaw training before fighting a guy like Hughes because he looked ill-prepared and never figured out how to prevent the left hands from hitting him the entire fight.
“I got the [IBO lightweight] belt; I won the world title and added it to my collection. That’s not one of the top four, but I’ve got the other four [WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring lightweight] sitting at home,” said Kambosos Jr.
Left out in the cold
“I just think Shakur is making a bit of noise because he wants the fight,” said Kambosos’ dad, George Sr.
Shakur Stevenson says that if he can’t get a fight with Devin Haney or Vasily Lomachenko, then he’ll face Kambosos next. However, it’s unlikely that Shakur will get any of those guys because Haney & Loma won’t fight him, and neither will Kambosos.
It’s unclear who Top Rank will match Stevenson against next, but it sure won’t be any of those three. What we’ll likely see is Shaakur fighting one of these lightweight contenders next:
– Jamaine Ortiz
– Edwin De Los Santos
– Michel Rivera
– Artem Harutyunyan
– Edwin De Los Santos
– Raymond Muratalla
“Hey, Shakur, take the 25% against Devin Haney. What’s wrong with you? You can still make a lot of money, come on,” said Kambosos Jr, not admitting that the offer wasn’t a real one by Haney.
“The thing is, you still get a crack at all the belts. What’s more important, the belts or 25%?” said Kambosos Sr.
Shakur could call Haney’s bluff and accept the 25% offer, but he still won’t get the fight because Devin has already decided to face WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis next.
That 25% offer was just a smokescreen by Haney to confuse the public. Devin doesn’t want any part of fighting Shakur next, and it’s fair to say that he’ll never fight him unless Stevenson becomes a massive star to where the money would make it worth it.
