George Cambosos makes a stunning win over Teofimo Lopez Jr. for joint lightweight titles

Teofimo Lopez promised to enter the ring against George Cambosos Jr. and defend his joint lightweight world championship with a first-round knockout. Lopez tried to keep his word by shooting high-powered shots in the opening box, but it was Kanbosos who got the knockout with a right-handed monster. That moment set the tone for the night and the heavy proved to be a moving grief he achieved victory by fragmenting the decision Inside the Hulu Theater in New York.

Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) came out of the canvas after the blow, but spent much of the fight walking the ball in Cambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) without ever picking up long attacks. Lopez kept the head-hunting in the opening rounds, Kambosos slipped and pulled out the heavy jabs and came back from the top with his right hands.

The way the fight started was even more shocking to see that Kambosos was just a mandatory challenge entering the fight. While the lightweight is packed with big names and top-level fighters, Lopez was ordered by the IBF to face Cambosoi or leave the tournament. Lopez added WBA and WBO titles to his IBF belt with an astonishing elite long pound of heavyweight Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020 and would not leave the title. Lopez joined the fight, even as fans, the media and his camp laughed at the idea of ​​the Australian challenger being a test of the young phenomenon.

As the fight seemed to be running out after the first six rounds, Lopez’s corners offered few adjustments, Teofimo Lopez Sr. asked his son why he hadn’t yet taken up the challenge in Australia.

Lopez finally came to life in the ninth round. His right hand seemed to be bothered by a late one and Lopez spilled it in the 10th round, grabbing Cambodos ’legs and sending them to the canvas with a big right-handed goal. While the Cambodians seemed hurt and tired, he managed to survive from the frame to reach the tournament rounds.

Despite falling in the 10th, Kanbosos took over in the last two rounds, overtaking Lopez and taking the victory in the biggest rounds of his life.

“Did I change all week? Have I changed my entire career? Never,” Kanbosos said after the fight. “I believed in myself. You may not believe it, but I believe in myself. I have all the jewels. I am not a king, I am an emperor, because I come to all other countries and take them out. One by one.”

The official scorers said 115-111, 113-114, 115-112, while the Cambodians won on both cards. The Cambodians had enough to get out of the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in three light heavyweight championships.

The victory put an end to a long saga that began in February when a fight broke out in the purse due to a financial disagreement between Lopez and Top Rank promoter. The bid for the bag was won by Triller, with a staggering $ 6 million bid. Triller then continually rescheduled the fight, with other fights and trying to avoid conflict. NFL among other issues. Triller eventually had to lose the fight and Matchroom Boxing gave him promotion duties as a second bidder. As the situation lasted for almost the entire 2021, Lopez and Cambos had an increasingly high level of bad blood.

That bad blood continued in the aftermath of the fight, when Lopez interrupted Cambos ’conversation, showing respect, saying he had no excuses and clearly deserving the victory. Lopez said he thought he had won 10 of the 12 rounds and suggested the greater powers of the sport were against him.

“I won tonight, man,” Lopez said. “Everyone knows that. The referee raised his hand to me, everyone knows that. I won tonight … In the end, man, I’m a real champion. I did what I had to do, I got out there. And I did my best.”

Cambosos ’response was simple, as he invited Lopez to a rematch on the field of the new champion.

“You’re a little delusional, brother,” Kanbosos said. “Listen, I’ve got belts, I’ve won the fight. I’ve won cleanly. But I respect you. Take it as a champion and move on. We can do it again in Australia in front of 80,000 people.”

Lopez dismissed the idea, saying he wanted to spend time with his newborn son and say he would be the last in the lightweight fight, while Kanbosos suggested he would be in Devin Haney’s next fight, hoping to add a single title belt. now hold on to his property.