One of the most anticipated battles of Boxing took place this morning Australian Eastern Standard time, which saw Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos come together finally to contest the vacant IBF Lightweight World title and of course the IBO Lightweight World title held by Kambosos.
After a strong 1st round by Kombosos, Lomachenko took control to outclass the Aussie all the way to the 11th round.
This is summed up in the video below which is final scene in Round 11 of the Lomachenko vs Kambosos Main Event last night (AEST).
Although George Kambosos had the fight lost on points already by this point, it was the Ring Smarts of Vasily Lomachenko who had outclassed the Tough Aussie, to have set up the final blows in Kambosos’ own corner which brought the Spartan Heritage Aussie to his knees for the first time in a career stoppage!
Kambosos falls at the first body blow but watch Loma’s face as he watches on from the opposite corner! You can almost see the wheels turning in Loma’s head as his Boxing IQ confirms that he’s on the path to a victory within the next few minutes.
With that confirmed, given Kambosos’ obvious pain and posture, watch him then deliver a jab and one more body blow exactly like the first. And to finish off, although not necessary as body blows do take a few seconds to transform into pain, the third and final drops Kambosos for the TKO decision.
So, Loma’s worthy champion status is restored as most expected, and Kambosos now reviews his next steps. What’s next for `Ferocious’ actually given that the path in the 135-pound class appears owned by Loma?
There is conversation of `rematch’ with Teofimo Lopez whom George defeated almost exactly 3 yrs ago in a SPECTAULAR upset that shocked the world with an incredible performance that unfortunately we have not seen repeated since. This doesn’t make sense in the current weight class, and in fact Lopez has moved on to the 140-pound class to claim the WBO and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight Title. So this isn’t a rematch in any way but a new battle for a new class. Also, this doesn’t make sense from a strategic perspective as you can’t make another world title attempt off the back of the loss with Loma. There would have to be a bout in between in order to demonstrate that George has potential to win another fight against a comparable opponent in that class.
Which brings us to fellow Aussie Liam Wilson waiting in the wings to take his own career to the next level. But this also doesn’t make sense on a global stage. Perhaps it does in Australia, but as stated by Kambosos’ US promoter Lou Dibella,
“No one gives a fuck about Liam Wilson”.
That’s not a personal comment against Wilson, but more a statement on financial sense and strategy. Which is the correct view given that the last 4 Kambosos fights have had the sponsorship and support of ESPN and the sanctioning bodies. These sponsors and bodies would want to see PPV sales and an all-Aussie bout with a boxer who is currently not ranked on a global level and therefore internationally not relevant, is not a viable business investment.
Retirement is also suggested; however, George isn’t talking that way and in fact he should not. To stay in the fight, pun not intended, the Kambosos camp needs to seriously consider a change in weight class. Moving to 140pounds or more, for an intermediary bout may be the logical next step and the only path forward.
Either way, the absolute truth, is that George Kambosos is a very tough Aussie with an incredible resume of the best fighters in the class division. Count them; Lopez, Haney, Hughes and Lomachenko are all world title holders and the elite of their class. He’s faced danger, taken massive risk and remained loyal to Australia by bringing the big fights to our shores. George is a straight talker, shoots from the hip and has bravery at Spartan levels. It may very well be that like the legendary Spartans he’s named after, that Goerge is in fact on his shield; at least in the 135 pound class.
But as he said at the post fight interview,
“We’ll be back; this is just a step in the Kambosos journey!”
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