Former IBF/WBA/WBO & Ring lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) and superstar Vasily Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) will battle for the vacant IBF 135-lb title on May 12 in collision in Perth, Australia.
Staging the fight in Australia gives Kambosos, 30, the home advantage over Lomachenko, which should make for an exciting match. Both fighters are coming off questional fights.
Fans on social media want to see this fight happen sooner than May, considering both of these fighters have been inactive for ages.
Mike Coppinger of ESPN broke the news of the Lomachenko-Kambosos Jr. fight taking place on May 12th. That’s Australian time. The fight will be shown in the U.S. in the evening on May 11th.
While Lomachenko arguably beat Devin Haney last May but lost a questionable decision, Kambosos beat Maxi Hughes by a twelve-round majority decision last July in a gift in his first fight with Top Rank.
There were some irate fans after the scores for the Kambosos-Hughes fight were read, as they did not agree with Kambosos being given the victory in a fight that appeared to be one-sided.
This writer had Hughes winning 9-3, and two of those rounds were mercy ones given to Kambosos because he was completely dominated, even worse than he was in his losses to Haney.
Some fans see the Lomachenko vs. Kambosos Jr. fight as a match between two of Haney’s victims, but the hardcore boxing fans know the deal.
Lomachenko deserved the win and should have been the undisputed lightweight champion, but it wasn’t his night. It’s unsurprising that Loma took some time off after that bitter defeat.
Interestingly, the fight will take place in Perth rather than Melbourne, Australia, the location for Kambosos Jr’s two fights with Devin Haney in 2022, both of which he lost. Has the emperor worn out his welcome in that city?
If that’s the case, Kambosos has the chance to raise his popularity back to where it once was if he defeats the former three-division world champion Lomachenko; his popularity will be back to where it was when he pulled off an upset of Teofimo Lopez in 2020.
