George Kambosos Jr. says he’s prepared to “shock” Vasily Lomachenko on Saturday night to recapture the vacant IBF lightweight title on ESPN at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Kambosos hasn’t said if he’ll retire if he loses this fight. He might be faced with that question if he gets trounced by Lomachenko because that would be his fourth consecutive true defeat, and it would be next to impossible for him to crawl his way back to the top.
The former IBF/WBA/WBO/Ring Magazine lightweight champion Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) states that he’s sold out the 15,500-seat RAC Arena for this fight against the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs).
Despite Kambosos’ bluster, fans and the oddsmakers aren’t giving him much chance of winning the fight because he’s looked pedestrian in his last three fights, easily handled twice by Devin Haney and shockingly dominated by Maxi Hughes, but given a questionable win.
The performance against Hughes showed that Kambosos is not cut out to be fighting at the top tier in the lightweight division. It’s not that he’s shot. He just never was that good, to begin with, and he reflects badly on Teofimo Lopez, whom he lost to him.
Focused and Ready for War
“We’re just ready for a true war. 30 years of age, I feel fresher than I’ve ever had in my life. I’m a true underdog, I keep proving the world wrong,” said George Kambosos Jr. to Fighthype, talking about his fight this Saturday night against Vasily Lomachenko on ESPN.
Kambosos needs to try and turn the fight into a war with the 36-year-old Lomachenko because that’s the only chance he has of winning. He’s not going to outbox Lomachenko, and he doesn’t have the huge middleweight-sized weight advantage that Devin Haney had win. He beat Loma last year by a controversial decision.
“I don’t think we’ve looked at a fighter this much as we have with Lomachenko. What he’s seen of me is not what it’s going to be on Sunday. I know that he’s in a true fight against a true warrior,” said Kambosos.
Warrior Spirit and New Tricks
“He knows Kambosos is a warrior. He knows he’ll do whatever it takes. He knows it’s a hard fight. I’m looking to shocking with a couple of things that we’ve added to our artillery, and win this fight. I can’t wait,” said Kambosos.
I don’t think Lomachenko is looking at this as a hard fight. It’s more of a regular fight for him, because Kambosos has shown in his last three fights that he’s not an elite-level or an A-level. He’s more C+, and the only reason he beat Teofimo is that he had him mentally in fragments from his pre-fight talk. Teofimo mentally crumbled after being dropped in the first round, and never got into the fight.
“I sold out RAC Arena [seating capacity: 15,500] with this mega-fight in Australia. Kambosos keeps doing it. His mentality could be that he’s never been able to get an IBF belt. Maybe it’s not meant to be. The IBF could be a curse for him,” said Kambosos.
It’s good that Kambosos sold out the fight in Perth. That place is off the beaten track, and it’s surprising that they’ve even heard of him out there.
“I have a beautiful IBF belt, and I’m looking forward to getting another one on Sunday. We know what he brings. He knows what I bring to a point, but I’m looking forward to shocking him and the world on Sunday,” said Kambosos.
I think this is going to be an easy win for Lomachenko with him winning a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision without Kambosos getting even one round.
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