‘Best Mother’s Day present ever’: Kambosos’ mum speaks as sparks fly at heated weigh-ins

George Kambosos’ mum has opened up in a rare one-on-one interview ahead of her son’s fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko on Sunday, as sparks fly during the heated weigh-in.

George Kambosos and Vasiliy Lomachenko had to be separated at Saturday’s weigh-ins. Picture: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

George Kambosos Jr’ mum, Andriana, hopes her son will deliver the best Mother’s Day present ever by scoring an upset world title win over Vasiliy Lomachenko on Sunday afternoon.

While Kambosos’ father and manager, Jim, has been a constant presence during George’s phenomenal run to boxing stardom, Andriana prefers to remain out of the limelight.

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But, in a rare interview one day before Kambosos Jr’s sold out blockbuster with Lomachenko in Perth, Andriana spoke about her pride in George.

“I love him and I’m so proud of his achievements,” she said. “I’ve seen it all, and he’s come such a long way from the amateurs to the pros.

“Words cannot describe how proud I am of him.

“Tomorrow, I’ll be the proudest mum ever and a win will be the best Mother’s Day present ever.

“I’ve got the confidence he can do it. He’s fitter, stronger and hungrier.”

Kambosos has his mum’s tattooed on his chest. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Kambosos Jr – who has his mum’s name proudly tattooed on his chest – first started boxing as a way to lose weight in preparation for rugby league season, but soon found he had more passion for fighting than footy.

Andriana jokes her Greek cooking caused a young ‘Ferocious’ to be overweight, and said her son’s decision to take up boxing caused a stir.

“He started at the boxing gym and we thought he wasn’t going to last, but he shocked us,” she said. “He said he wanted to do boxing, so we supported him all the way.

“A lot of mothers said to me, ‘How can you let him do it, blah, blah, blah’.

“I just said, ‘I don’t care what you people say, I’m his mother and I’ll support him all the way, and if he does win a world title, don’t call me’.

“They did end up calling, but I just said, ‘You’ve gotta support your children no matter what they do’.

“As a mother you have to.”

Kambosos and Lomachenko had another intense face-off. Picture: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Andriana was front row for the dramatic scenes at Saturday’s weigh-ins, when Team Kambosos threatened to walk off stage after Lomachenko failed to appear on time.

Kambosos hit the scales first at 134.2 pounds, but there was no sign of Lomachenko anywhere.

As his son paced around the stage like a caged lion, Jim announced they’d be leaving if Lomachenko hadn’t appeared within 30 seconds.

The former three-weight world champion finally appeared with just five seconds to spare, weighing in at 134.95 pounds.

Lomachenko waves to the crowd after arriving fashionably late. Picture: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

The relaxed 36-year-old laughed off the hold up.

“I don’t know, it’s too early,” he shrugged. “I was just sitting in my room.”

A fired up Kambosos said Lomachenko’s late showing was unprofessional.

“I’m here, I’m a true professional,” he said. “I’ve got nothing left to say.”

The pair then engaged in another comically long face-off as supporters cheered and chanted in the background.

At Thursday’s press conference, they stood face-to-face for three minutes and 20 seconds, and on Saturday, their staredown lasted another three minutes.

After more than a week of behind-the-scenes drama, the weigh-ins were the clearest indication yet that Lomachenko will walk second on fight night.

The teams have been debating the order of the walkout, with each camp arguing their fighter deserves the honour of walking second.

Unless there’s another twist in the tail, it appears Kambosos will walk first, as he did for the weigh-ins.

Kambosos and Lomachenko mouth off at the weigh-ins. Picture: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Elsewhere on the card, Mexico’s Pedro Guevara needed the assistance of a towel as he was forced to strip naked to make the 115 pound limit for his WBC interim world title fight with Andrew Moloney.

Cherneka Johnson didn’t repeat her viral body-paint weigh in outfit, tipping the scales at 116.7 pounds for her WBA bantamweight world title fight with Nina Hughes (117.5 pounds).

“That was one and done thing, you can’t do that twice and it did the job last time,” she said. “When I become two-time world champion, it’s going to be pretty special.

“It’s here in Australia, two divisions, and then we collect the rest (of the belts).”

Originally published as ‘Best Mother’s Day present ever’: Kambosos’ mum speaks as sparks fly at heated weigh-ins