Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez 16-0 (12) has vowed to humble mandatory challenger George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 19-0 (10) when they meet at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
The bout was originally slated for June before being postponed multiple times. Both boxers have engaged in passionate smack talk ever since the fight was first announced.
This week the champion’s father Teofimo Lopez Sr and the challenger’s dad Jim Kambosos almost came to blows in the gym during a media workout.
There is plenty of passion from both sides and it is sure to extend to the ring.
“You have to know your place and on Saturday, God is going to humble this man, through me,” said Lopez.
“A lot of these people are so ambitious and that’s okay, you have to be. But the thing is, sometimes you don’t get it because you probably won’t carry it the right way. You’re not going to be a people’s champ. You’re going to spend your money on yourself rather than giving back like a lot of fighters do.”
Lopez, 24, claimed the undisputed championship at 135-pounds in October last year when he dethroned Vasiliy Lomachenko on points.
He has not competed since, but neither has 28-year-old Australian Kambosos, who was last in action when he scored a split decision victory over former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby in London in the same month to secure his shot at Lopez.
American video-sharing social networking service Triller won the purse bid to promote the fight but after multiple attempts to put in on, they reneged on their rights and second-highest bidder Matchroom Boxing stepped in to promote the fight and broadcast it on DAZN.
Lopez sees himself as the people’s champ and is promising to punish Kambosos for what he sees as disrespect.
“It’s all about being the people’s champ. [Muhammad] Ali was the greatest of all time for those things. He made a strong, strong impact on the sport, so for George, I have no respect for him at all – at all,” he said.
“The amount of disrespect from him, you disrespect my mother? I told them, I warned him, his manager ‘don’t talk about my family’. I said they can say anything else, talk shit about me, say I am a cockroach, an ant. But once you cross that line, that barrier; fuck his manager Peter Kahn and fuck George Kambosos Jr.
“I’m thankful that DAZN has picked up this fight, I’m thankful for Eddie Hearn and everyone that has played a role in this one. I’m in the zone and on DAZN. It’s a blessing to be here but it’s time to start putting people in their place and time that they sit down and be humble. I’ve been humbled and I am humble. There comes a point that you just have to smack these guys.”
