Former unified lightweight champion George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 21-2 (10) is keeping his options open following his closely contested majority decision win over southpaw Maxi Hughes 26-6-2 (5) at Firelake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma on Saturday night.
The 117-111, 115-113 and 114-114 victory over England’s Hughes will see the 30-year-old Australian slotted in as the number two lightweight contender behind Argentina’s Gustavo ‘El Electrico’ Lemos 28-0 (18) in the IBF rankings.
Two-time Kambosos conqueror Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 31-0 (15) rules the 135-pound division with the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles firmly within his grasp, but he is expected to move up in weight for his next bout, a rumoured challenged to WBC junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis 29-1 (24).
If that bout comes to pass, the IBF will order Kambosos to face Lemos for the vacant title.
But that isn’t the only potential opponent Kambosos has his eye on, with former three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko 17-3 (11) also within his sights.
The win over Hughes, 33, was the first for Kambosos since losing back-to-back bouts to Haney last year that cost him his WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
Hughes brought a big crowd with him to Shawnee, but Kambosos said it didn’t put him off his game.
“He’s got a bit of a fan base that came out. The English are quite loud. We won the majority of the fight. He had a couple of good rounds, I give him that,” Kambosos said to Fight Hub TV.
“Look, we knew what we came up against. This guy is a top 10 lightweight in the world. This was not an easy fight. He was a cagey fighter. We knew what came up, and we were happy to get the win.
“The 117-111, I was happy with that. I won eight or nine rounds, I gave him three rounds where he just edged it, but it wasn’t enough.
“I was the aggressor, I landed the cleaner shots and I hurt him multiple times. It was a good win over a cagey fighter.
“It was good to get the twelve rounds and we’ll move on to what’s next. An IBF world title shot or Lomachenko. We’ll see.”
Kambosos got into a discussion with WBO number one contender Shakur ‘Fearless’ Stevenson 20-0 (10). The 26-year-old American wasted no time letting him know he thought he won the fight.
“I gave [Hughes] a little more opportunities than I should have. [Stevenson] can think whatever he wants; it doesn’t bother me,” Kambosos said.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve had all the belts at lightweight. We got a big stadium fight coming.
“We’ll fight Lomachenko next. That’s the fight. He’s more open to throw his shots and engage. I want to engage and that’s a big fight that I get up for.”
Ukraine’s Lomachenko, 35, is a southpaw just like Hughes.
“I got the [IBO lightweight] belt; I won the world title and added it to my collection,” Kambosos added.
“That’s not one of the top four, but I’ve got the other four [WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring magazine titles] sitting at home.”
