Home Boxing News George Kambosos Jr promises to expose “fake” Teofimo Lopez

George Kambosos Jr promises to expose “fake” Teofimo Lopez

George 'Ferocious' Kambosos Jr. Photo credit: Alex Menendez, Triller Fight Club

Australian lightweight contender George Kambosos Jr 19-0 (10) sees himself as a better boxer than undisputed 135-pound champion Teofimo Lopez 16-0 (12) and has vowed to expose his “fakeness” when they meet at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 4.

The bout was originally slated to take place on June 19 before Lopez contracted Covid-19. The rescheduled date of August 14 was also scrapped after Lopez claimed to be suffering ongoing symptoms of the virus.

The 28-year-old has made incredible sacrifices to make the fight happen and will likely miss the birth of his third child in his bid to claim the WBA, WBO, IBF, WBC Franchise and Ring magazine championship belts.

“I’m going to beat this guy by any means necessary,” Kambosos said to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“It’s been a long time coming, and I don’t see any way he can beat me. They talk about certain aspects of his game, but my game is better all around.

“I don’t think he deserves to be a champion. He takes it for granted. He laps it up too much, wants to show off too much. He’s not a true champ and the fans see that; a lot of fans see his fakeness.

“He needs a big wake-up call, he needs to be humbled, and I’m coming to do that.”

Kambosos has taken his show on the road since defeating Thailand’s Krai Setthaphon in Melbourne three years ago.

He has fought in Malaysia, Greece and United Kingdom, with a further three bouts in the United States.

In his previous bout at Madison Square Garden he defeated former world champion Mickey Bey on points in December 2019.

He backed this up with a split decision victory over another former world champion in Lee Selby at Wembley Arena in London in October last year.

It’s a long way from the Croatian Club in Punchbowl, Sydney where he started his professional career eight years ago.

“This is a really crazy journey when people look back and see where I came from,” he said.

“This victory is probably going to be the biggest victory for an Australian fighter ever on the world scene.

“There’s a hall of fame career right there. My last three fights – Mickey Bey, Lee Selby and now the undisputed champ – that’s hall of fame talk right there.

“This is the beginning, because when you win a world title, everything changes.

“Then you hold all the aces in the hottest division in the world, the lightweight division.

“The plan is to bring everyone here to Australia. I’ve been doing my hard yards, going over there multiple times, fighting these guys in their backyard, and I’ve had to really earn it.

“It’s time they learnt what I’ve had to go through, the pain and sacrifice and suffering that I’ve had to do. Whoever wants the belt, they are going to have to come to me.

“Once I have all the belts, the whole landscape changes, you become in charge, and you control everything.

“I want to show Australian boxing to the world, the fighters we have here, in George Kambosos Jr.”