It didn’t take long for the challengers to call out newly minted lightweight king George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-0 (10) following the 28-year-old Australian’s win over Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez 16-1 (12) at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night.
Kambosos outboxed Lopez for much of the fight, dropping the forward-charging champion in the opening round before finding himself on the deck in the 10th. But true to his word, Kambosos stayed in the pocket, making Lopez miss and making him pay to finish the fight the stronger of the two.
At the conclusion the scores were 115-112, 115-111 and 113-114.
Undefeated Ryan Garcia 21-0 (18) – who has not fought since January when he stopped Luke Campbell with a body shot – was quick to put his hand up to face Kambosos.
“My return fight, I’ll fight Kambosos,” Garcia tweeted after the Aussie dethroned Lopez. “Massive respect to Kambosos for that performance. [H]onestly, you deserve it and all love… go celebrate.”
Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions was also open to the fight, tweeting: “Congratulations, George Kambosos. Let’s talk Ryan Garcia.”
Meanwhile, Lopez’s father and trainer Teofimo Lopez Sr insisted he son won the fight while simultaneously blaming weight drain for his lacklustre showing.
“I don’t need no rematch, man. My mistake was leaving my son at 135 for so long,” Lopez Sr told SecondsOut’s ‘Radio’ Rahim Davies. “This game, you gotta knock everybody out. If you don’t knock everyone out, this is what happens. It was a complete robbery.
“We dictated the fight from the beginning aggressively. Everyone in the world knows what happened. Everyone is saying he won the fight 9-3, 10-2. The whole arena saw it and it was just disgusting. I can’t believe what they did to us. But you know what? They just saved us.”
The plan, according to Lopez Sr, is to move up in weight and target undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh ‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor 18-0 (13).
“We’re gonna go up to 140, we’re gonna get a fight in February and then fight Josh Taylor in the springtime,” said Lopez Sr. “This doesn’t change anything. You know what I’m saying?
“We don’t got to perfect nothing. He’s just been at 135 for too long. He’s been there since 2016 when he fought in the Olympics. It’s time for him to move up, so he can be stronger and dead all these people. Because you know what? From now on, he’s gonna knock everybody out.”
Kambosos had some choice words for the contenders lining up to face him now that he holds the WBA, WBO, IBF, WBC Franchise and Ring Magazine championship belts.
“I’m not the king, because you’ve got four kings [at 135]. I’m the emperor!” Kambosos said in the ring after the fight. “I’m the greatest fighter in Australian history.
“This is for my kids, my grandfather George Kambosos, who passed away two months away. It’s for my family, my wife, my grandfather. I know he’s in the ring with me right now.”
Addressing Lopez, who interrupted Kambosos’ interview to claim he was robbed, he said: “I won the fight fair and square. Take a look at your face. Take it like a champ, let’s do it again in Australia. Eighty-thousand fans in Australia, let’s do it again.”
