'Embarrassing' last clash could haunt Kambosos
If the same George Kambosos that showed up against Maxi Hughes gets in the ring with Vasily Lomachenko, the Australian faces a tough decision about his future in the sport, says boxing great Jeff Fenech.
Kambosos goes into the match up with the Ukrianian legend at Perth’s RAC Arena on Sunday as a massive underdog, with bookies and pundits leaning towards Lomachenko following Kambosos’ last outing in the ring.
The Sydney fighter defeated Brit Maxi Hughes via a controversial majority decision, with many observers claiming the Australian was lucky to walk away with the IBO belt, which paved the way for his shot at the vacant IBF title on Sunday.
Lomachenko’s last outing was against the man that took Kambosos’ unified title, Devin Haney, with the 36-year-old going down in what many labelled a contentious decision loss.
Lomachenko is said to be in the final years of his career, which will ultimately see the Olympic gold medallist and three time world champion enter the sport’s Hall-of-Fame.
In the lead up to the bout on Sunday, Kambosos declared a win will make him the greatest boxer Australia has seen.
But Fenech, who spoke to Wide World of Sports on Tuesday, said the Aussie could be in for a tough night if he takes the same mentality from the Hughes bout into this event.
“George lost his last fight. They gave him the decision but he didn’t win. That’s the truth, I’m just being honest. And it was against a kid who can’t fight,” Fenech said.
“When he beat Lopez you can’t take nothing away from him. He won on the night. But the guy that he beat thought he was going to play with him.
“Lopez wasn’t prepared to go any rounds but that was his bad luck and has nothing to do with George. George made the most of it.
“But if George thought he beat that guy in his last fight… these days if you get punched in the head 50,000 times, and you know you lost but you still put your hand up in the air as if you won the fight. It’s embarrassing.
Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr: to face off Sunday.
“That’s the way it is these days. Social media and all this bullshit.”
Fenech claims if Kambosos goes down to Lomachenko he will have to rethink his next steps, and consider what his future looks like.
Kambosos could still make decent money if he were to continue on, but he may have to entertain challengers he once would have scoffed at.
Either way, Fenech believes Kambosos has done plenty for Australian boxing and could surprise everybody again come Sunday.
“George has done an amazing job. Amazing for Australian boxing,” Fenech said.
“He’s not stupid, Lomachenko is 36 if if the old boy turns up, anything can happen. If Lomachenko turns up like his last couple of fights, I think George has a tough time.
“If Lomachenko goes into it like Lopez did against George, then I reckon George could have a chance.”