After George Kambosos surprised the boxing world with his November 2021 win over Teofimo Lopez to end up being unified light-weight champ, it was anticipated his very first title defense would come against multi-division previous champ Vasiliy Lomachenko. Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine left Lomachenko not able to take the fight and Kambosos would go on to lose his titles to Devin Haney. On Saturday night, Kambosos and Lomachenko will lastly meet the uninhabited IBF light-weight title on the line.
Lomachenko started his expert profession after being among the very best amateur fighters of his age, declaring a 396-1 record and two times winning Olympic gold. He would win his very first world title in simply his 3rd expert fight, beating Gary Russell Jr. to catch the WBO featherweight title.
By his seventh fight, Lomachenko had actually gone up to junior light-weight to win the WBO title and made the WBA light-weight title in simply his 11th pro bout.
Following his interruption win over Jorge Linares, Lomachenko beat WBO champ Jose Pedraza to merge the titles. Two battles later on, a win over Luke Campbell included the WBC title to Lomachenko’s collection.
Lomachenko rose to WBC “franchise champ” ahead of his fight with Teofimo Lopez, triggering some confusion when the then-IBF champ Lopez beat him in October 2020. The WBC had actually stated their franchise champion was non-transferrable and Haney had actually been made WBC world champ, so Lopez was not technically indisputable champ.
Enter Kambosos, who was offered his chance at Lopez as the IBF compulsory opposition. Following a strange construct to the fight, which saw upstart Triller win the handbag quote just to postpone the contest and ultimately default on their commitments, the Aussie handled to get in Lopez’s head with his garbage talk and shenanigans. Kambosos, who was almost a +600 underdog going into the fight, scored an early knockdown en path to a should have split-decision win.
When Kambosos vs. Lomachenko collapsed due to the dispute in between Russia and Ukraine, Kambosos utilized his power as merged champ to require Haney to come to Australia for a fight to crown a main indisputable champ at 135 pounds.
“I’m anticipating this. It must be a sold-out occasion, a fantastic light-weight champion match,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum stated. “Vasiliy Lomachenko is a magnificent tactician, and I take pleasure in viewing him. George Kambosos is a genuine warrior. He concerns fight. He’s extremely amazing. This fight will be unforgettable, and I can’t wait to see it. And I understand fans all over the world are anticipating it.”
Haney routed Kambosos in their very first conference before doing the exact same in the rematch — likewise kept in Australia per the settlements for the very first fight.
Lomachenko got a shot at ending up being indisputable when he was Haney’s fist challenger after the Kambosos battles. Haney vs. Lomachenko was a wonderful fight that saw 2 skillful fighters running at the top of their craft. Haney got approval by choice, though lots of fans felt Lomachenko had actually done enough to reach his imagine being indisputable champ.
Let’s take a closer take a look at the remainder of the fight card with the current odds before getting to a forecast and specialist tease the centerpiece.
Lomachenko vs. Kambosos fight card, odds
- Vasiliy Lomachenko -650 vs. George Kambosos +450, uninhabited IBF light-weight title
- Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara, WBC interim very flyweight title
- Nina Hughes (c) vs. Cherneka Johnson, WBA bantamweight title
Viewing info
- Date: May 11
- Location: RAC Arena — Perth, Australia
- Start time: 10 p.m. ET
- How to enjoy: ESPN, ESPN+
Prediction
Kambosos is worthy of all the regard on the planet for his scrappy course to a location where he’s not just held the merged light-weight title however likewise has the power to be the home town fighter against a few of the very best fighters on the planet. He has actually handled to do all of this without being an elite fighter in any technical element of boxing. Kambosos does not have fantastic power, nor is he especially fast, nor is he a tactician. Kambosos is a gritty guy whose self-belief has actually brought him to heights most fighters never ever experience.
All that stated, self-belief is inadequate to beat a master fighter like Lomachenko. The finest opportunity for Kambosos to beat Lomachenko is for 36-year-old Lomachenko’s age and the miles on his body to have actually reached him. That, integrated with Lomachenko’s fondness for sluggish starts, opens a narrow opportunity for Kambosos to manage yet another upset.
Lomachenko is most likely still too great for Kambosos. The last time we saw Lomachenko, he was providing Haney whatever he might manage in their wonderful fight. Haney’s loss to an obese (and possibly PED-abusing) Ryan Garcia might have altered the viewpoint of some on how important that Lomachenko efficiency was, however it was an efficiency that revealed plenty left in Lomachenko’s tank.
Lomachenko is not a fighter susceptible to making errors in the method Lopez was, which enabled Kambosos to manage his career-best win. This seems an uphill struggle for Kambosos, who will need to benefit from every little opening Lomachenko provides to attempt and edge out a win. Pick: Vasiliy Lomachenko through UD
Who wins George Kambosos Jr. vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko, and which prop is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Brandon Wise’s finest bets for Saturday, all from the boxing specialist who nailed Jake Paul’s first-round knockout in March, and discover.
