After weeks of rumors and speculation, the lightweight between former unified champions Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. has finally set a date for May 12 (May 11 for Australia). The event will be hosted in Kambosos’ home country of Australia at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. Additionally, the vacant IBF lightweight title that was relinquished by Devin Haney last year will be up for contention during this magnanimous bout between the two former world champions.
The lightweight title bout between Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KO’s) and George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KO’s) might see boxing promotion Top Rank now hold claim to three world champions in the division following Shakur Stevenson’s (21-0, 10 KO’s) win over Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KO’s) last year in November to become the WBC champion, and the recent announcement of Emanuel Navarrete (38-1, 31 KO’s) moving up this year to face Denys Berinchyk (18-0, 9 KO’s) for the WBO lightweight title in a match mandated by the sanctioning body.
With both Lomachenko and Kambosos have enjoyed world title success, the Australian-based bout will determine not just a new champion in the division, but the winner is sure to bolster their pound-for-pound ranking regardless of whether they are currently listed as a pound-for-pounder or not.
The latest betting odds reveal Vasyl Lomachenko to be the favorite off the back of a close loss last year to then-undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s), with Draft Kings depicting him as a surefire favorite by -800 while George Kambosos Jr. is listed as the clear underdog with odds of +475.
It is uncertain why these initial odds favor Lomachenko heavily, but it might be attributed to George Kambosos’ last performance against British lightweight contender Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KO’s) which saw Kambosos win controversially by majority decision last year after being basically outgunned by the Brit during most of their bout.
Stylistically, the fight does tend to favor Lomachenko who has shown a similar skillset to Haney who managed to beat Kambosos twice. Known for his elite footwork and all-around expertise in all required skills, Lomachenko does seem to have the better tools when it comes to this match-up, and given his lat performance against Haney his 35 years of age might again not play that much of a role against Kambosos.
Kambosos, 30, may look to be outmatched on paper but the Australian fighter has caused upsets before; particularly when he defeated former unified champion Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KO’s) by split decision in 2021. Kambosos’ odds are further boosted by the fact he will be fighting in his home country of Australia where he will be backed by numerous fights.
With the vacant IBF lightweight will be made available for this bout, giving rise to a new world champion in the division and potentially new unifications depending on what the winner of this match-up chooses.
The card will be promoted jointly by Top Rank and DiBella Entertainment, and ESPN will be the primary broadcaster to showcase this fight. Further fights will be added to the card and will be announced in the near future.
