George Kambosos defeats Maxi Hughes, Australian Joe Goodall stuns Stephan Shaw in undercard
Aussie George Kambosos has a sixth world crown, but the narrow points decision left English opponent Maxi Hughes and many viewers in disbelief.
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‘Ferocious’ is back ... only just.
George Kambosos has breathed life into his career after hitting back from twin losses to Devin Haney by claiming a controversial victory over English rival Maxi Hughes to win the IBO world title on Sunday.
In a drama-charged affair, Kambosos snatched a majority decision (114-114, 117-111, 115-113) amid claims Hughes was sensationally robbed by the judges as their lightweight battle at Oklahoma’s FireLake Arena went down to the wire.
Hughes (26-6-2, 5KO) appeared to land the better shots, but the judges backed Kambosos (21-2, 10KO), whose nerve-jangling victory gave him a sixth world crown following his five-belt boilover of Teofimo Lopez in 2021.
More importantly, it keeps the Australian in the hunt with the division’s big dogs, with Kambosos returning to the winner’s circle after losing his unified champion’s status in consecutive losses to Haney last year.
This bout doubled as an IBF world-title eliminator, and victory – however unconvincing and controversial – puts Kambosos in the frame for a potential big-money showdown with Ukraine superstar Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Defending IBO champion Hughes later suggested he was dudded, but Kambosos rubbished that sentiment, insisting he deserved the spoils as the Spartan Warrior prevailed in a 12-round nailbiter on American soil.
“I won the fight by many rounds,” said Kambosos, returning to the ring after a nine-month hiatus.
“Maxi had a couple of good rounds, but that doesn’t win you the fight.
“Maxi was a tough challenger and it was an honour to share the ring with him.”
One judge gave Kambosos nine of the 12 rounds and that was a mind-blowing miscalculation.
For all his pedigree, former world champion Kambosos was never supremely dominant. He was sharper against Lopez and there was not the blood-and-thunder brutality he promised pre-fight when the 30-year-old declared he would “hit Hughes for six”.
How can you even get this far as a judge if you genuinely score a fight like that the total opposite way to 99% of people? #boxing#KambososHughes
— Adam Zimmer (@AdamDZimmer) July 23, 2023
I'll never watch this shite again #KambososHughes
— Rusty Shackleford (@RustySh79654996) July 23, 2023
🥊 ICYMI: Maxi Hughes robbed overnight in Oklahoma as the Brit wins 8-9/12 rounds but has to settle for a 114-114, 115-113, 117-111 MD loss to George Kambosos Jr. #KambososHughespic.twitter.com/XYIbIdW9W6
— VIDEOS (@EBVIDEOS) July 23, 2023
The #KambososHughes scorecards… pic.twitter.com/hgjCVIKUEf
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) July 23, 2023
Facing a southpaw for the first time in his 23-fight career, Kambosos struggled with Hughes’ workrate, awkward angles and tactical guile as the Englishman exhibited slick evasion and clever counters.
But Kambosos is proving the master of close contests, having now claimed a majority or split decision in four of his last six fights either side of his Haney collapses.
“It’s a kick in the bollocks,” Hughes said of the narrow loss.
“I don’t know what the judges were seeing, but I made him miss and I landed the cleaner shots.
“I don’t want to take away George’s moment but I should have had my hand raised.
“I am gutted.”
Official statistics showed Hughes had a 29 per cent punch accuracy compared to Kambosos’s 19 per cent.
Both fighters started tentatively. At the end of the fourth, Kambosos’ new trainer Don House told the Australian he was being too watchful and challenged him to step it up against Hughes, who looked comfortable at range.
The powder keg moment came in the fifth. Kambosos tried to lift the tempo and it opened the door for ‘Maximus’, who countered brilliantly, landing a sweet left hook, then followed up with another straight left which opened a cut over the Australian’s right eye.
Under pressure, Kambosos launched a riposte in the sixth, Hughes himself sustaining a cut over his left eye, which was correctly ruled an accidental headbutt.
Hughes showed signs of tiring in the 10th and Kambosos sensed it, stepping up his attack and having joy with left and right shots, although there was no telling blow for Ferocious to establish true dominance.
The championship rounds could have easily gone to Hughes, who largely sidestepped his rival’s wild, lunging shots, but Kambosos did enough to win over two judges.
Now, the Australian is eyeing a world-title blockbuster with Lomachenko, the man he hoped to originally face last year before the Ukraine war instead triggered a showdown with Haney.
“(Shakur) Stevenson is a great fight and Vasiliy Lomachenko is a great champion, he could be the next fight for me,” Kambosos said.
“I have to get greedier, he was moving and not engaging too much.
“Styles make fights and I need to be greedier.
“I believe I won the majority of rounds and this is a move to the next step.”
500-1 Aussie underdog shocks boxing world
Brisbane-based Joe Goodall has produced one of the biggest wins in Australian heavyweight boxing history with a monster boilover of an American rated a future world champion.
The undercard to the George Kambosos-Maxi Hughes IBO world-title bout had an explosive start on Sunday as raging outsider Goodall stunned the boxing world by stopping the highly-rated Stephan Shaw in the sixth round in Oklahoma.
‘Big Shot’ Shaw (18-2, 13KO) was such a heavy favourite that Goodall was rated a 500-1 chance by bookmakers to stop the 30-year-old American in the sixth round.
But ‘Big Bad Joe’ (10-1-1, 9KO) did just that, dropping Shaw twice in the sixth with a volley of savage shots in a clobbering that represents the greatest win of his career.
Not since Lucas Browne stunned Ruslan Chagaev to win the WBA world heavyweight title in Russia in 2016 has an Australian heavyweight produced such a devastating performance on foreign soil.
Goodall’s career was at the crossroads when he was well beaten by rising star Justis Huni (7-0, 4KO) in their Australian super fight 13 months ago, but the Shaw spanking will see the 31-year-old surge up the world rankings.
Goodall’s manager Steve Scanlan said the upset at FireLake Arena is evidence the former Commonwealth Games silver medallist is Australia’s No.1 heavyweight and a world-class boxer.
“It’s unbelievable, this is one of the biggest upsets in Australian heavyweight boxing history,” an elated Scanlan said from Oklahoma.
“I’ve always felt Joe was our best heavyweight and this proves it.
“Lucas Browne won a world title but Joe has beaten an American who was ranked in the world’s top 30 before this fight.
“Joe was paying 500-1 to knock Shaw out in the sixth round, he was a massive underdog.
“This bloke (Shaw) has never been put down in his career and Joe made him quit.
“It’s an extraordinary result for Australian boxing.”
Leading boxing website BoxRec elevated Goodall from No.7 in Australia’s heavyweight rankings to the nation’s No.1 slot ahead of Huni, Browne and Demsey McKean after his upset of Shaw.
Goodall was so poor after his loss to Huni last year he pondered retirement, but he has now arrived at the gateway to some big-money, world-class heavyweight fights.
Scanlan said Goodall would relish a rematch with Huni after he sliced and diced Shaw.
“It was a great heavyweight fight. It was a real slugfest,” he said.
“Joe got wobbled at one point, but overall Joe controlled the fight and in the sixth round he ripped Shaw’s heart out.
“Joe was very disappointing in his loss to Justis Huni last year, but he had bronchitis before that fight and this is the real Joe Goodall when he turns up fully fit.
“Justis is a great talent but Joe has him covered I believe and after this win, we have bigger fights planned.”
Boxing’s Ashes: Kambosos vows to hit Pom for six
George Kambosos insists his self-belief has not been destroyed by twin losses to Devin Haney and has vowed to dish out a brutal British belting to Maxi Hughes in his world-title comeback on Sunday.
Kambosos (20-2, 10KO) is gunning for a remarkable sixth world-title belt when he faces Englishman Hughes (26-5-2, 5KO) in their battle for the IBO lightweight strap at Firelake Arena in Oklahoma.
It is billed as boxing’s version of The Ashes and Kambosos has pledged to “hit Hughes for six” as ‘Ferocious’ plots his path back to world-title supremacy in the wake of his crushing collapses against Haney.
Kambosos stunned the boxing world with his five-belt boilover of Teofimo Lopez in 2021, only for the Sydneysider to lose all his belts last year after back-to-back beatings in the space of four months to Haney on Melbourne soil.
Now, empty-handed, the Spartan warrior is hellbent on rising again.
While the IBO is not one of the Big Four organisations, Kambosos’ showdown with Hughes doubles as an IBF world-title eliminator and the 30-year-old says he is not haunted by his Haney horror shows.
“Mark my words — I will stop Maxi Hughes,” Kambosos told this masthead of his first fight since last October.
“I have lost zero confidence from Haney. My self-belief has not changed one bit.
“I went 24 rounds with a guy who is pound for pound one of the best in the world.
“He didn’t drop me or stop me.
“It’s the opposite, my confidence has skyrocketed from my fights against Haney.
“Those fights have sharpened me even more and Maxi Hughes is going to feel the full force of that.
“I am here to make a statement, I will win this fight and Ferocious will be back.”
While Tim Tszyu has stolen the hype and claimed an interim world title during Kambosos’ nine-month hiatus, the former unified lightweight champion is adamant he’s still the king of Australian boxing.
Shrewd match-making has kept Kambosos close to the division’s top dogs. Victory over Hughes sets up another marquee world-title bout for the IBF crown. With Haney tipped to step up in weight and vacate his lightweight belts, Kambosos is within striking distance of another mega bout against superstars such as Vasiliy Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
But first he must dispose of IBO world champion Hughes, who has won his last seven fights and is unbeaten since 2019.
“He is a crafty veteran, so I won’t take him lightly,” Kambosos said.
“I won’t ever underestimate his toughness, but I’m on a different level, an elite level, and I’m coming for him.
“I’m not just going to beat him, I will knock him out or seriously put a beating on this guy.
“I will destroy Maxi Hughes.”
Kambosos has bunkered down in camp in Las Vegas. There have been no hangers-on as he completed road runs in 40 degree heat and sparred more than 180 rounds to sharpen his tools for Hughes.
It is estimated Kambosos made around $10 million from his Haney bouts. A Hughes victory would leave Kambosos’ career in tatters. It’s why the Spartan warrior is hungry and ready for war.
“There is one job. One mission,” he said.
“Maxi Hughes is banking on seeing the old Kambosos who fought Haney. I think he is hoping I have lost some motivation or I’ve made too much money in the sport and that I’m not motivated, but I am still hungry.
“I am the most accomplished boxer in the history of Australian boxing. If you go to my house, you will see all the world title belts in the boxing world. You can’t get that in any other house in Australia.
“Right now there is one Aussie doing it on the world scene and that‘s me.
“I’m here to win my sixth world title and show George Kambosos is still the guy.”
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