Two years ago George Kambosos Jr was flying high.
The Australian lightweight was undefeated, holding the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine championships – and should have been recognised as the undisputed champ bar sanctioning body shenanigans from the WBC – before it all came tumbling down.
Fresh of his title winning effort against the formidable Teofimo Lopez, Kambosos jumped straight back into the ring against the dangerous Devin Haney at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium in June 2022.
Kambosos lost on points by unanimous decision with two of the judges scoring the bout 116-112 in the American’s favour. The third card read 118-110 for Haney, which more accurately reflected the action in the ring.
Kambosos didn’t fare any better in their immediate rematch, going down by scores of 109-119, 110-118 and 110-118 four months later.
A mediocre win over Maxi Hughes by majority decision followed last June.
As of right now, the career of the 30-year-old Kambosos 21-2 (10) stands at the crossroads.
Now the ex-champ gets the opportunity to prove he is still a legitimate contender when he takes on former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko 17-3 (11) at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia on May 12.
Kambosos knows what a victory over the 35-year-old Ukrainian southpaw will mean for his career.
“Vasiliy Lomachenko is a guy that we have looked at for a very long time, a guy that I’ve been watching from a young kid,” Kambosos said.
“This guy is a legend, the respect we have for him is huge…to have this official now, it is extraondinary. I’m very motivated for this fight, I’m very excited, but most we’re very excited to bring this big event — another mega-fight that Kambosos brings to Australia.
“This fight rejuvenates my career. This gives me my redemption. Yes, I’ve been in the big fights, I’ve fought the best. I’ve won the big fights, I’ve lost the big fights. But for me this is legacy, this is not about anything else.
“Two warriors coming together for a big fight. Our careers are on the line here. Legacy is on the line here.
“And I believe this is my destiny.”
Lomachenko, who his WBO and WBA titles to Lopez on points in October 2020 and dropped a razor-thin decision to Haney in his last outing in May last year, know his career hangs in the balance too.
“It’s a next chance to be a world champion again and I never been in Australia. I always want to be and this is a good chance,” Lomachenko said.
“Right now my goal to be world champion again and after I can start thinking about undisputed again.
“I respect George Kambosos because he never gives up during a fight. It will be a very interesting fight because we have two different styles and styles make fights.”
Lomachenko added that he had the better performance against Haney.
“Our fights with Devin Haney were two different fights,” he said. “There were two different styles. If we talk about my fight with Haney, I didn’t lose that fight, in my opinion.
“If we talk about Haney-Kambosos, Kambosos had two chances and he lost.”
But Kambosos quickly put his own spin on things: “Yes, I lost to Devin Haney, but you had your chance with Teofimo Lopez and you didn’t take your chance. I did.”
