The promoter of former three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko 17-3 (11) says his boxer has a tough task in front of him when he takes on former unified lightweight champion George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 21-2 (10) for the vacant IBF 135-pound title at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on May 12.
Ukrainian southpaw Lomachenko, 36, and 30-year-old Australian Kambosos have two common opponents in Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez and Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney.
Back in October 2020, Lomachenko lost his world lightweight titles to Brooklyn’s Lopez, 26, on points. A little over a year later, Kambosos would lift the lightweight titles from Lopez by split decision.
In his very next fight Kambosos faced Devin Haney, losing a unanimous decision in June 2022. He fared no better in their immediate rematch four months later, losing by an even wider margin on the cards.
Lomachenko challenged Haney in May last year, losing a close unanimous decision that many fans and pundits felt should have gone the other way.
The promoter of Lomachenko, Bob Arum, believes his guy deserved to have his hand raised in that bout.
“Lomachenko, I think he’s still a great fighter. His fight with Haney, I was watching that fight and I like Devin, I think he’s a great fighter, but thought Loma won that fight,” the Top Rank chief said to Fight Hub TV.
“The judges decided otherwise and you have to respect the judge’s decision. Has Loma slipped a little? Yeah. He’s 36 and he’s not that old, but he had this long amateur career, almost 400 fights at the top level. So he’s probably not as good as he was five years ago.”
The question, then, is does Lomachenko have enough left in the tank to get over Kambosos in his home country? Arum is certainly hoping so, but he isn’t ruling out the +525 underdog springing the upset on the veteran.
“George Kambosos is a live dog in the fight. He’s a very good fighter. He’s always in good shape. It’s going to be a tough fight and we’ll see who comes out on top,” Arum said.
“I’ve loved having Loma as part of Top Rank. I have great affection. I think he’s a tremendous guy, a great family, a great father and everything you want in a fighter, but he’s in very tough with Kambosos.
“He couldn’t handle Devin Haney, Kambosos, but he certainly handled Teofimo. Now he’s fighting in Australia again. So, that’s going to be a very interesting match.
Arum added that the fight he would like to make for Lomachenko next is against WBC lightweight titleholder Shakur ‘Fearless’ Stevenson 21-0 (10), the 26-year-old southpaw from Newark, New Jersey.
“I’ve never been to Perth, so I’m looking forward to that,” Arum said. “To me to see Shakur versus Lomachenko would be such a treat to see two skilled guys go at each other, but that’s in the future.”
