Promoter Bob Arum sees George Kambosos Jr. as a “live dog” in his 12-round fight against Vasily Lomachehnko on May 12th at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, for the vacant IBF lightweight title.
Public Perception Favors Lomachenko
The fans view the former unified lightweight champion Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) as having little chance of defeating Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs), who is on another level skill-wise and has done a lot more in his profession and amateur career.
For Arum to say that Kambosos Jr. is a “live dog” in this fight is very kind of him, but the reality is that his only chance of winning is if he’s given another questionable decision like we saw in his last fight.
Kambosos’ Recent Struggles
Kambosos, 30, has youth and home country advantage against the 36-year-old Lomachenko, who will be coming off a year layoff since his controversial 12-round unanimous decision loss to Devin Haney in Las Vegas in May 2023.
Kambosos has arguably lost his last three fights, and he’s looked as average as he’s ever been. He got lucky with his questionable decision in his last fight against Maxi Hughes last July, but the boxing world saw him losing that fight.
Arum on Lomachenko’s Recent Performance
“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,” said promoter Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV, talking about Vasily Lomachenko’s controversial loss to Devin Haney last year.
“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.
“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. 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. I’ve never been to Perth, so I’m looking forward to that. To me to see Shakur vs. Lomachenko would be such a treat to see two skilled guys go at each other, but that’s in the future,” said Arum.
