Lightweight contender George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 19-0 (10) has revealed he was so angry with undisputed champion Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez 16-0 (12) for testing positive for Covid-19 that he was prepared to fly from Miami to Las Vegas to fight him on the Strip.
The 28-year-old Australian was just days out from his fight against Lopez, 23, at the loanDepot Arena in Miami, Florida on June 19 when his manager Peter Kahn sat him down to tell him the news of the failed Covid-19 test.
“I was ready to fly to Vegas to fight him right then and there. I said get me on a private jet right now, I’m going to go looking for him. This is bullshit,” Kambosos said to FightHype.
“But it is what it is. He got it. There’s a lot of theories, a lot of people talking out of their arse, but he did get it. Now, him getting it shows he is very immature. He has responsibilities as a professional athlete, that’s what frustrates me.
“I’m staying focused. I’m the mandatory, the contracts are signed and he’s going to see me know matter what and I am going to see him.”
Fledgling social media platform Triller won the rights to host the fight with an enormous bid of $6.018m, trumping outsider Matchroom Boxing with a bid of $3.56m and Lopez’s own promoter Top Rank who lodged a bid of $2.315m.
The bout was originally scheduled to take place on pay-per-view on June 5 but was pushed back by two weeks when it was announced that Floyd Mayweather would face Logan Paul in an exhibition bout on the same weekend.
The working dates floated for the rescheduled fight are August 14 and September 11. But Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated has cast doubt on the fight proceeding that quickly.
“I’ve been told by people close to Lopez that he is still very sick and that he’s still dealing with the effects of Covid-19,” Mannix said on DAZN Boxing Show.
“So whenever he actually gets over it, he’s probably going to need a month-and-a-half, two months of a training camp to get back into shape.
“People have kind of pinpointed September 11th as the date for Lopez-Kambosos – don’t count on it.”
Lopez’s old rival Vasiliy Lomachenko 15-2 (11)was back in action on the weekend, delivering a one-sided nine-round beatdown to Masayoshi Nakatani 19-2 (13) at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
One interested observer at ringside was Lopez’s father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr, who was scouting a rematch for his son against the 33-year-old Ukrainian southpaw. It is fair to say that he is not a guy that Kambosos holds in the highest regard after running into him in Miami.
“Man, the father, is an absolute clown,” Kambosos continued. “The guy is Bozo the Clown, that’s who he is.
“He was at the bar every single night – drinking at the bar at the fight hotel. Just enjoying [his] time, like they had their victory and were so happy. His son just cost Triller millions of dollars. Your son just fucked up a huge event and you’ve got the [nerve] to show your face around?
“He’s out there talking so much rubbish. His mouth is trying to [write] checks that his son isn’t going to be able to cash them. Because he’s trying to make the fight happen [the rematch between Lopez and Lomachenko], but at the end of the day, you can fight Lomachenko, no problem. I’m looking forward to seeing the rematch, but guess what, it won’t be for any belts. Let’s see how much of a good fight that is when I’ve taken everything.
“You see the guy he is in interviews. The guy is probably 30 drinks deep every time he does an interview. He’s a clown. That’s the kind of person he is. It’s pretty sad that [Lopez Jr has] got that guy representing him.”
Meanwhile, Mannix has advised Team Lomachenko to bide their time in their bid for a rematch.
“If I’m Lomachenko I don’t want to just kind of sit back and wait for Lopez to win this fight against Kambosos and wait for him to be ready to fight him again,” he said.
“Look at some of the top guys at 135 pounds, make a fight with them and then go on to fight Lopez in a big match early next year.”
