Watch: Strange three-minute face-off between George Kambosos and Vasiliy Lomachenko
The mental battles between George Kambosos and Vasiliy Lomachenko have begun with the pair sharing a wild three-minute face off, setting the tone for what is poised to be an epic battle on Sunday afternoon.
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Vasiliy Lomachenko has brushed off questions about a walkout drama, saying he doesn’t care who walks first when he fights George Kambosos on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking seconds after his wild three-minute long face-off with Kambosos at their press conference in Perth on Thursday, the three weight world champion actually admitted the hometown fighter should walk second.
There have been behind the scenes disagreements between the camps over whether Kambosos or Lomachenko should be given the honour of walking to the ring second as the A-side for the IBF and IBO lightweight world title fight at RAC Arena.
Boxing: Lomachenko v Kambosos IBF Lightweight World Title Fight | Sunday, 12 MAY 12PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Kambosos’ manager and father, Jim, said it was one of several “dramas going on” as fight week ramps up, but Lomachenko now says he isn’t concerned.
“I don’t know, I think him, because he’s from Australia,” Lomachenko told this masthead about the walkout order. “For me, it doesn’t matter.”
Kambosos said he was leaving the walkout discussion to the managers and promoters, with the possibility of a weigh-in day coin toss to decide the walkout order.
“We’re talking about a coin toss, but who knows, I might have to teach him rock, paper, scissors and beat him at that too,” Kambosos told this masthead. “Or maybe a bit of chess, I know he likes chess and he thinks he’s a sharp thinker, but I can play chess as well.”
Kambosos and Lomachenko couldn’t be separated during their press conference face-off, with the pair remaining just centimetres from each other for more than three minutes on Thursday morning.
Not even the heavily tattooed former heavyweight world champion and much-feared doorman Lucas Browne could separate them.
It was left to Lomachenko’s manager to walk onstage and physically pick his fighter up and remove him.
“We could’ve kept going,” Kambosos told this masthead afterwards. “I was ready to go all day.
“But I could see in his eyes that he was starting to get edgy and a bit impatient. He was starting to think, ‘Come on, look away, look away’.
“But I’m here, I’m ready for a true fight and I’ve got that Aussie spirit, I’m ready to win this fight.
“He didn’t say a word, and I just told him I could do this all day. I showed him the warrior that he has in front of him.
“Even Lucas, who’s probably the most feared guy in Perth, a proper security guy, he couldn’t shake us.”
The unflappable Lomachenko hit back at Kambosos’ claims, saying he was ready to make a contest of their intense staredown.
“It was a competition. We started the fight at the face off,” he said afterwards. “This was my first time I stayed so long at the face off.
“For me, it’s like we started the fight at the face-off. You can show, at the face-off, if you are strong or not.
“It’s just part of the game.”
‘Who else has done that?’: Kambosos’ claim to Aussie GOAT status
George Kambosos has staked his claim as Australia’s greatest boxer, and says a win over Vasiliy Lomachenko this weekend in Perth will make his case undeniable.
Despite clawing his way to the top of the sport with fights all over the world and a historic upset of Teofimo Lopez to claim the lightweight world titles in 2021, Kambosos has always struggled to be recognised and accepted as one of Australia’s greats.
Boxing: Lomachenko v Kambosos IBF Lightweight World Title Fight | Sunday, 12 MAY 12PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
But a victory over a generational talent like Lomachenko, who has won world titles in three weight classes and claimed two Olympic gold medals, will make his case undeniable, ‘Ferocious’ says.
“A win over Lomachenko – and with wins over Lopez, and former world champions prior to that – and the two mega-fights with (Devin) Haney, who else has done that?” Kambosos told this masthead from his base in Perth this week.
“Who else has been able to collect all these belts? Four belts, plus The Ring belt. Undisputed champion – like it or not, I was undisputed.
“Having these big wins against future hall of famers, how can you doubt it?
“That’s not being disrespectful, that’s just stating facts.”
Kambosos is confident in his own mind of his position in the pantheon of Australian boxing, and generally doesn’t care what others think.
But after this weekend, he says, no one else will be able to argue.
“After Sunday, with so many accolades on the line, it’ll be for you guys in the media and in Australian boxing to say,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘You know what, Kambosos is a badass. He’s the best that’s ever been’.
“But until Sunday, we’ll just focus on the victory, and whatever comes with it, we’ll be ready for it.”
In addition to the win over Lopez and his two blockbuster undisputed world title fights against Haney, Kambosos can count victories over former world champions Mickey Bey and Lee Selby in a rise that took him from Sydney to Auckland, Kuala Lumpur, Las Vegas, Athens, London and New York.
Knockout artists, Olympians and even a 17-year-old all make the list. @JamiePandaram names his top 10 fighters who are set to carry the hopes of Australian boxing fans for the next generation. https://t.co/tXfGYCPUM3
— CODE Combat (@codecombatau) May 5, 2024
Since that upset of Lopez though, Kambosos dropped a pair of decisions to Haney and scored a controversial majority decision win over Maxi Hughes.
It means he’s the heavy underdog going into his IBF lightweight world title fight this weekend, and the 30-year-old has gone back to the mindset he adopted during his rise.
“Victory here is redemption, it’s the cherry on top,” he said. “It puts a lot of people in their place.
“It’s a very similar, and a very eerie feeling of preparing for that Lopez fight, and of being the huge underdog again.
“But I love that underdog mentality.
“After the Haney fights, I prayed to God and said, ‘Give me one more shot, give me one more chance against a guy like Vasiliy Lomachenko in a mega-fight in Australia.
“In all honesty, I’ve got nothing to lose – like it was in the Lopez fight.
“There is no plan-b for me.
“I’m coming to win this fight, and if Lomachenko thinks this is an easy fight, or a bit of a holiday, it’s gonna turn real bad, real quick.”
A win would see Kambosos reclaim one of the lightweight titles he previously held, and the Sydneysider is adamant he will win even more titles at 135-pounds.
As for Lomachenko though, Kambosos says this weekend is the end of the line.
“This is another mega-fight for Australian boxing,” he said. “This is the biggest fight this country’s ever seen.
“We’re very excited to not only be fighting Lomachenko, but to beat Lomachenko.
“I’m going to put this guy away. I’m here to win this fight, and a win here retires Lomachenko.
“He’s got nowhere to go after this.”
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