Ukrainian boxer Vasily Lomachenko will fight for the IBF title with Australian George Kambosos

The famous Ukrainian boxer Vasily Lomachenko, who went through a difficult period in his career, got a chance four years later to regain his status as world champion. In May, he will fight for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight belt (up to 61.2 kg) against Australian boxing star George Kambosos, whose track record, like Lomachenko, was spoiled by a misfire in a confrontation with the outstanding American Devin Haney.

ESPN reported that a fight for the International Boxing Federation lightweight champion title will take place on May 12 in Perth, Australia. We are talking about a rather interesting event, which, however, a couple of years ago would have been even louder.

By the age of almost 36, Vasily Lomachenko has collected a luxurious collection of various awards. Before turning professional, he won Olympic gold twice. Then, having opened a new stage of his career, he won championship titles in three weight categories, and was also recognized as an undisputed phenomenon of his species, a standard of subtlety and originality, or something. And with this recognition came enormous popularity.

But recently Lomachenko had to go through a very difficult period in his life. In 2020, he unexpectedly lost to the daring Cuban youth Teofimo Lopez, giving up his championship title. And his return to the top was complicated by the situation in his native country, which disrupted Lomachenko’s training process. But he still waited for the chance to fight for the title, which the Ukrainian lacked to make his track record look very attractive. Lomachenko won the right to fight with the holder of all four lightweight championship belts – IBF, World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) – American Devin Haney, who is 11 years younger than the Ukrainian. But the fight, which took place in May 2023, resulted in a terribly offensive story for Lomachenko.

In a match with Devin Haney, an outstanding boxer rated much higher than the veteran, Vasily Lomachenko had an unsuccessful first half, but improved in the second and surpassed his much younger opponent. According to all the main statistical indicators, such as the number of hits that hit the target, he was ahead at the end of the battle. However, all three referees gave the victory to Devin Haney: one – 116:112, two – 115:113, with a minimal, in other words, advantage. The judge’s verdict was met with boos from the public and critical reviews from renowned experts who, for example, discovered something surprising on Judge Dave Moretti’s map. He gave the seventh round to Haney, despite the fact that the American showed nothing in attack and missed blow after blow.

Vasily Lomachenko did not have to wait long for a new chance to fight for the title – even if not the absolute world champion, but simply the IBF champion – thanks to Haney’s ambitions. He went to conquer the next weight categories and vacated his belts. And Lomachenko’s opponent in Perth will be a boxer whose biography also happens to be closely connected with the American.

The rise of George Kambosos, who had been a sparring partner of the great Filipino Manny Pacquiao in the previous decade before quietly becoming a star himself, came when he was awarded the right to face Lomachenko’s upset Teofimo Lopez in 2021. Kambosos defeated the Cuban, who was considered the favorite, by a split decision, winning the title of absolute champion, although he had not dreamed of it until recently.

But soon he had to come down to earth. After Lopez, Kambosos collided with Haney. The Australian had both fights with him in 2022, and there was no particular stylistic difference between them. In both cases, the matches lasted all 12 rounds and ended with crushing victories for the American on points. At the same time, unlike Lomachenko, Kambosos did not have at least more or less long periods during the fights during which he looked better than his opponent.

In 2023, George Kambosos entered the ring only once. And this performance did not add to his quotations. Kambosos dealt with Briton Maxi Hughes somehow, and analysts questioned the judges’ decision.

Alexey Dospehov