George Kambosos Jr. is in a must-win tonight going up against the highly accomplished Vasily Lomachenko for the vacant IBF lightweight title in Perth, Australia.
Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) has not looked good in any of his last three fights since that one big win for him in 2021 against Teofimo Lopez. It’s been all downhill for Kambosos since then, and it’s not looking good for him tonight against Lomachenko at the RAC Arena on ESPN.
Kambosos: A Falling Star
- Record: 21-2, 10 KOs (but the reality is, those two losses were brutal)
Recent Performance: Shaky at best, downright awful at worst
Claim to Fame: A fluke victory over Teofimo Lopez in 2021
Top Rank: The Lifeline That Could Be Cut
If Kambosos loses to Loma, his opportunities to fight in championship-level fights for nice paydays may disappear entirely, leaving a guy who is used as a trial horse for up-and-comers.
The former unified lightweight champion Kambosos probably shouldn’t be getting this opportunity to fight for the IBF title, but being signed with Top Rank has helped. Without them, Kambosos would be nowhere, fighting for peanuts against lower-ranked fighters and likely still losing.
There’s no ignoring how terrible Kambosos has looked, and his promoters can’t save him if he looks as bad tonight as he has recently. I think Top Rank will throw Kambosos overboard for the fish if he gets beaten by Lomachenko.
They can’t protect the guy because he’s shown that he’s not capable of beating anyone in the top ten. Top Rank isn’t going to want to waste money on Kambosos if he’s not capable of beating anyone.
The Expert Opinion
“Kambosos, he’s coming in on some good fights, bad fights. More bad than good money,” said boxing expert Chris Algieri to the Probox TV YouTube channel about tonight’s fight between George Kambosos Jr. and Vasily Lomachenko.
“He’s trying to maintain his level of a guy that can make a lot of money fighting the top elite class at the championship level. So, for him, a loss here, it’s going to be really hard for him to get any championship level and elite fights after a loss.
“With a win, huge opportunities for his opportunity to fight some of those other champions in the weight class or go up to 140 and fight Teofimo and get another rematch in there against a guy he’s beaten once before,” said Algieri.
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