The vacant IBF lightweight world title fight between Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr was formally announced today from Perth, Australia by Top Rank’s Bob Arum.
The legendary promoter has drawn acclaim as boxing’s greatest, with historic nights such at The Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila, both starring all-time great Muhammad Ali.
Arum heads to Perth in Western Australia with help from the local government to bring Ukraine’s former three-weight world champion to fight Sydney’s Kambosos at the RAC Arena on May 12.
“These are two really accomplished fighters,” Arum said by video call at today’s official press conference. “Vasiliy Lomachenko was the greatest amateur fighter in the history of boxing. He had 397 amateur fights and lost only one. As a professional, he’s won world titles from 126 to 135. He is technically considered one of the greatest masters of the sport of boxing.
“And George Kambosos is a fighter who always is in the fight, giving his all and putting on splendid performances. The people in Perth, Australia, and the people around the world are in for a really big treat when these two great fighters meet in the ring in Perth. I think like fans all over the world, fans in Perth will fall in love with Lomachenko. Even though he will be fighting an Aussie, because Lomachenko is such a gentleman and he is such a sterling person. I remember when the Russians attacked Ukraine, Loma was training for a fight outside of Ukraine. He immediately left, flew to Romania and drove to the suburb of Odessa where he lived to put on a uniform to help defend his country. He is an exemplary person, a great person, a great family man, everything that could be good for the sport of boxing is personified by Vasiliy Lomachenko.”
Arum co-promotes the event with Kambosos’s promoter Lou DiBella and Australian outfit No Limit. The fight is to be aired on ESPN in America and Main Event in Australia. It is assumed the bout will be aired on Sky Sports in the UK due to their broadcast deal with Top Rank.
Lomachenko comes off a contentious points defeat to Devin Haney in Las Vegas last May.
“Everybody that was sitting with me ringside in my area had it eight-rounds for Lomachenko, four-rounds Haney,” Arum added. “I at worst thought Loma pulled it out at seven to five. The judges, who are good judges, saw it differently from myself and other spectators. It is what it is, it can happen when the judges are very subjective on how they score a fight. Loma took that loss like a man, and now he looks to resume his career with a win and another lightweight world title in Perth against a tough, tough competitor in George Kambosos.”
