Vasiliy Lomachenko takes on George Kambosos Jr for the IBF World Lightweight Championship on Saturday the 11th of May.

Vasily Lomachenko VS George Kambosos Jr tops a triple world championship event in Perth Western Australia. Lomachenko will face the Australian Kambosos with the winner walking away with the 135 pound belt. The IBF belt became vacant after the former undisputed king of the division Devin Haney vacated his titles prior to moving up to the Super-Lightweight division. Dethroning WBC Champion Regis Prograis in the process.

Kambosos:

Kambosos will have the home advantage when he takes on Loma, in what will no doubt be a chess match of boxing. George currently has a record of 21 wins, 10 of these wins coming by way of knockout, with only two loses. Both these of defeats came via unanimous decision to the aforementioned Devin Haney. The Australians most recent bout saw him beat Britain’s own IBO Lightweight Champion Maxi Hughes. This resulted in a highly controversial split decsion, with pundits and fans alike both calling the outcome a robbery.

Kambosos unified the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF and The Ring Magazine titles in November 2021. Facing the American fighter Teofimo Lopez and beating him via split decsion, sending Lopez to the canvas early in the fight. In a fight in which he was definitely not the favourite to win. Kambosos will be striving to come a two time world champion on the 11th of May, which if successful will arguably allow the 135 pounder to be held in same regards as other legends of the sport from the region, such as Kostya Tszyu.

Lomachenko:

Lomachenko is arguably one of the most technically skilled boxers of all time. He also happens to be one of the most successful amateur boxers all of time. Lomachenko amassed an amateur record of 386 wins and just one loss. Collecting consecutive gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the 2012 London Olympics, to add to his already impressive collection of gold medals, from both the European and World Championships. The Ukrainian magician, made the leap to the professional ranks in 2013 aged 25. Boxing history shows not all good amateurs make good professionals. But in the case of Loma, he won the WBO Featherweight Belt in just his third bout. “Hi-Tec” faced Roman Martinez (24-2) knocking him out in the fifth round. Picking up the WBO Super Featherweight title in the process.

If Loma wins the fight can he will become a four time world champion in just twenty one fights. “Hi-Tec” has not being shy in the past in discussing his desire to become the Undisputed Lightweight champion of the world.

The Fight:

Both fighters have mutual opponents, in Teofimo Lopez, who dethroned Lomachenko, then subsequently Kambosos snatching the belts in a similar fashion. Both fighters also share losses to Devin Haney, albeit in the case of Lomachenko a very contentious defeat. Kambosos has a slight height and reach advantage over the Ukrainian. With his orthodox in and out style and high work rate. Kambosos has all the potential to hand Lomachenko his fourth professional defeat.

Lomachenko at 35 years of age, would have not fought for a year by the time they fight. If Lomachenko can use his ring IQ and has not lost the footwork in what has been a vital tool throughout his career, Kambosos may find himself in all sorts if trouble. Whilst age may not be in Lomachenko’s favour he more then proved in his last fight that he still has all the tools to reign as king of the division once again. This fight has the potential to be an exciting show of skill and an almost even bout. A somewhat rare occurrence in a vacant title fight.

The winner of this fight has the potential to be involved with more huge fights in the division. With hard hitting and loud spoken Gervonta Davis, recently upgraded to the WBA Super Champion. Although Shakur Stevenson has recently announced his retirement, whether this is a permanent decsion is yet to be seen. A fight between Shakur and the winner of the fight, would make for a exciting night of boxing.

The Undercard:

Also featuring in this triple world title championship card are twin boxers Jason and Andrew Moloney. Jason Mooney will be defending his WBO World Bantamweight which he won in his last after beating Saul Sanchez by majority decsion in Canada. Andrew Moloney (26-3) will be defending his WBO Global Super Flyweight title, which he also won in his previous bout. Both fighters are yet to have their opponents announced.

Has father time caught up with Lomachenko or has he got what it takes to become champion again?

Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images & Embed from Getty Images