Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. will fight for the vacant lightweight title this Saturday, May 11th at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on ESPN. The event begins at 10pm ET on ESPN and ESPN+.
This is the IBF 135-pound belt that was vacated when Devin Haney moved up to light welterweight. Lomachenko lost a controversial decision to Devin last May, so this will give him another chance to win one of the four belts previously held by the conqueror.
Kambosos on unstable ground
Technically, former unified lightweight champion Kambosos will be fighting at home, but he's from Sydney, so it's an area he's not familiar with. Still, if the fight turns into a card game and it's a close one, you have to think the decision will go to Kambosos.
I hope it won't be a controversial outcome, especially since it would be a bad one if Lomachenko gets the business, like he did in his last fight with Haney. Lomachenko won the fight in the eyes of many, but the judges awarded the victory to the younger fighter.
It's unclear why Kambosos won't fight in Sydney or Melbourne, but two losses to Haney and a questionable win over Maxi Hughes may indicate he's not as popular as he once was.
Kambosos looked really bad, dominated by Hughes, just as much as he was in his two losses to Haney, but the judges gave Kambosos more points. Hughes won 11-1.
It's safe to say Kambosos' Cinderella moment is gone and he's back to being the Ham & Egger fighter he was before his surprise win over Teofimo Lopez in 2021. It was a perfect storm that worked in Kambosos' favor and he won against Theo. , he treated him lightly, as his weight had dropped, his ring was rusty, and he was injured.
If there were only two of them, Teofimo would have won, but if all four were against him, he could win.
Saturday night's undercard features a variety of fights that hardcore boxing fans will love, but casual fans won't.
Undercard
Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara
Imam Hatayev vs. Richards Bolotzyks
Lucas “Big Daddy” Brown vs. Hemi Ahio
Faiga Opel vs. Joe Goodall