George Kambosos Will He Get Another Chance at a Title?
The Australian's Boxing Stats
It’s fair to call George Kambosos an Australian boxing legend after capturing the IBF, WBA, and WBO lightweight titles in 2021.
The feisty Australian was an outsider with boxing bets when beating Teofimo Lopez, and although he subsequently lost to Devin Haney, he’s still one of the best in the business.
When it comes to boxing weight classes, Kambosos is right near the top of the lightweight rankings.
Taking His Shot
There weren’t many bets placed on George Kambosos when he fought Lopez in 2021, but he deserves the split-decision victory.
He picked the American apart when handing Lopez his first and only career loss. It was a big upset with the bookmakers, but never has he shown more Australian pride than that day at Madison Square Garden.
Kambosos was 20-0 at the time, rapidly rising the ranks following wins against Mickey Bey and Lee Selby. Those wins came by split decision, so he wasn’t knocking people out, but his work rate was much better.
Despite clearly outboxing Lopez, one judge scored it 113-114 in favor of Lopez, which caused some eyebrows to be raised. However, according to the latest boxing news, the other two judges had made the right call with 115-111, and 115-112.
“I put him on his ass,” Kambosos said. “From that, I totally changed the fight straight away. He was hesitant. … We boxed very smart, and you know what I showed? My boxing skills. … I showed what a true champion is, to come back and win the fight and close it in great fashion.”
The win rejuvenated Australian boxing, which is currently being fronted by Tim Tsyzu, who has a title fight on the horizon.
What Happened Since?
George Kambosos put his titles on the line against Haney and the result wasn’t to his liking.
The now 30-year-old lost by unanimous decision, and although it was close at times, he never looked like getting the better of the American.
In the rematch, which happened only four months later, Kambosos was beaten even easier. He only won a couple of rounds against Haney, one of the world’s best lightweights.
There was a bit of a crisis regarding where Kambosos goes with his career following the consecutive losses. He fought journeyman Maxi Hughes in July and came away with a narrow majority decision victory.
Despite many calling the fight rigged, Kambosos defended the result, which could earn him another chance at a title.
“We won the fight, we won the fight by many rounds, but that’s no discredit to Maxi Hughes,” Kambosos said.
“He had a couple of good rounds, but a couple of good rounds doesn’t win you a fight. We won the majority of rounds; that’s the reason we chose him, he’s a hard test. A lot of guys were coming off losses but we wanted to take a test like him.”
We wouldn’t be surprised to see Kambosos fighting for a title in the coming months. He has plenty of fights left in him, and he draws big crowds, which is what the boxing authorities look for.
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