The hits keep coming for boxing.
In a year that has featured a seemingly endless string of meaningful fights, we have another coming up on Saturday from Perth, Australia when former undisputed champion George Kambosos Jr. seeks to regain a fourth of those titles when he faces the legendary Vasiliy Lomachenko for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.
Here is a look at the particulars for the card.
- Date: Saturday, May 11
- Time: 10pm ET
- Viewing Info: ESPN/ESPN+
Last Time Out For Kambosos
Kambosos, 30 is coming off a majority-decision win over Maxi Hughes in July 2023. The former didn’t look especially sharp in his first action since losing his second consecutive lopsided decision to Devin Haney in October 2022.
However, Kambosos did pick up the secondary IBO title in his win over Hughes and the victory helped to position him for the fight with Lomachenko.
Focus could be an issue for Kambosos Jr. as he gets set to face one of the stiffest challenges of his career. The clash with Lomachenko will happen just days after news broke that the former has been ordered to pay more than $350,000 to his former manager, Peter Kahn for lost wages. Kambosos is also being sued by former trainer Javiel Centeno for the same reason.
The former champion will need to shake off any outside-the-ring concerns and focus on defeating one of the best of his era.
Last Time Out For Lomachenko
In May 2023, Lomachenko had his own unsuccessful clash with Haney. However, Lomachenko’s loss was not nearly as lopsided.
In fact, the Ukrainian came on so strong down the stretch of the fight many wondered if he’d done enough to win. Ultimately, Haney prevailed 115-113×2 and 116-112 despite a furious finish from Lomachenko that appeared to have the former out on his feet at points in the final two rounds.
Lomachenko has taken nearly a year off in between fights, but the 36-year-old is hoping to prove he still has enough juice to turn back a young championship contender en route to recapturing gold.
The winner of the fight will not only be a world champion, but they will be in a position to fight one of the other titleholders at 135 pounds, Shakur Stevenson (WBC) or the winner of the upcoming WBA lightweight championship bout between (c) Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin on June 15.
