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Date of: Sunday, May 12
Main event: Vasyl Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr.
Start time: 10:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm PT
Broadcast details: Stream live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
Location: RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
Quarrelsome monarch Down Under George Kambosos Jr. is looking for a shiny new belt, but he has Ukrainian battle wizard Vasyl Lomachenko with his eye on the same prize and eager to add another gold notch to his Hall of Fame belt.
The stage is set for the vacant IBF lightweight title in what will be a world title triple header on Sunday May 12 (May 11 in the US) at the RAC Arena in Perth. Stay tuned for two more fights for the belt.
Lomachenko, who has a pair of Olympic gold medals under his belt, won the featherweight crown in just his third professional appearance and shot his way to triple-division glory in record time. Despite being a small guy at lightweight, “Loma” defeated giants like Jorge Linares and company to win three belts. After losing to Teofimo Lopez in 2020, he won three victories and even briefly defended his homeland amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. He came within a hair's breadth of lightweight supremacy last May, narrowly missing out on the crown in a thriller against Devin Haney, with many fans tipping Loma as the winner.
Kambosos has been making his way through the lightweight jungle since 2013, earning his spot as the IBF's top contender with a handy win over Lee Selby in 2020. Then a year later he shocked the boxing world with a split decision victory over Lopez to crown a unified champion. title. His dance with Haney for the undisputed crown drew a huge crowd to Marvel Stadium, but he was unsuccessful. After losing the rematch, “The Emperor” returned to the title scene with a commanding win over Maxie Hughes in 2023, setting the stage for another shot at the spotlight.
George Kambosos Jr: “We'll fight Lomachenko next”
Excited and excited, George Kambosos Jr. turned to Vasiliy Lomachenko and said he wanted the two-time Olympic champion. “next” in a stadium fight in Australia.
The fight between Lomachenko and Kambosos Jr. is a mismatch on paper, and it's hard to see it being anywhere near competitive.
Kambosos Jr. will likely be entirely focused on getting the big paycheck he'll receive against Lomachenko in front of a huge crowd in his native Australia. It would be Golden parachute for Kambosos to help him land softly in retirement after being completely outclassed by Lomachenko.
Loma has made it clear that he wants to fight for belts, and he likely won't entertain the idea of fighting former IBF/WBA/WBO/Ring lightweight champion Kambosos Jr. without an IBF belt at 135 pounds.
“We will fight Lomachenko next.” George Kambosos Jr. said in an interview with Fight Hub TV following his controversial twelve-round majority decision over Maxie Hughes on July 22.
Just fighting Kambosos just isn't enough because Lomachenko will take a ton of criticism for fighting him instead of Shakur Stevenson for the WBC lightweight title.
For Loma to fight Kambosos next time, he must be prepared to accept the backlash from the boxing public following the Maxie Hughes debacle.
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