SPORTS SHORTS 73: GEORGE KAMBOSOS SAYS HE PREPARES HIS WHOLE LIFE AGAINST TEOFIMO LOPEZ
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Mar 2021
George Kambosos Jr said his world title fight against Teofimo Lopez is a chance to prove how good he really is in an interview with Fight Hype. He added that he prepared his whole life for this moment, and said he will use all his experience with him into the ring against Lopez.
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Kambosos stated he had the hard road and Lopez did not have a super hard road like he had, traveling all over the world, going into the lion’s den, and going into the hard gyms where he come from Australia.
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He boasted of sparring with the best fighters in the world, including Manny Pacquiao and getting tested to see if he was worth his time to be his sparring partner.
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When asked if he has learned anything from his sparring sessions with Pacquiao, Kambosos replied that he learned many things. He said he did 23 rounds with Pacquiao and came out with no problem.
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"I love Pacquiao and he can tell you the same thing, ‘Kambosos is a killer. Kambosos can win this fight.’ There was talk back then when I was sparring Pacquiao that Lomachenko wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao, and Manny was turning around and going ‘George, you go fight him, you’ll beat him.’ So start putting two and two together."
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Kambosos continued that he had a great preparation throughout his career. He had sparred with 20 different world champions and beat two former world champions.
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Kambosos defeated former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby of Barry, Wales by split decision on October 31, 2020. He also triumphed over former IBF lightweight titlist Mickey Bey, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. also by split decision on December 14, 2019.
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Kambosos, age 27 years of Sydney, Australia, has an unblemished career record of 19 wins in as many fights with 10 knockouts. Lopez (16-0, 12 KO) will defend his WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight titles against IBF mandatory challenger Kambosos in the main event of a Triller pay-per-view event.
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For him, if he will be successful against Lopez, this will be the biggest moment and the biggest victory of his career and the biggest victory for an Australian, possibly not just boxing but in Australian sport ever.
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Triller surprised boxing world when they bid $6 million to win the rights to Lopez’s mandatory lightweight title defense against Kambosos, out-bidding second-ranked bidder Matchroom Boxing and Lopez’s own promoter Top Rank who was third.
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Ahmet Oner, the manager of super middleweight contender Avni Yildirim, was shocked with his boxer's performance in Miami, Florida when he was dominated and stopped in three rounds by Mexican icon Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who retained his WBC, WBA world titles.
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Yildirim threw only a few punches in the bout and took punishment in every round. His trainer Joel Diaz stopped the fight before the fourth round started.
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“People are upset, I get it. But these happened in the past. Michael Spinks lost to Mike Tyson in one round, Max Schmeling lost to Joe Louis in one round. Canelo is very good, he is a superstar. I had the honor of being with Canelo and his team, great professionals who are made for much more," Oner told George Ebro.
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Oner doesn't think anyone can beat Canelo in the super middleweight division. If he was bigger, he could even beat Anthony Joshua, he added. "He is a monster. He hit Avni in the third round and I saw that he wasn't reacting to his coach's questions. We made the decision to remove him. He is 29 years old. Canelo is in a different league."
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Oner said that Canelo is very strong and there is only one Canelo. Jermall Charlo, Anthony Dirrell, Billy Joe Saunders, all of them will be defeated by Canelo, assured Yildirim's manager. "He's better than Mike Tyson, more solid. He will never lose to minor boxers."
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Claressa Shields won dominantly once again, returning home to Flint, Michigan, to win a wide unanimous decision over Marie-Eve Dicaire, unifying all four belts at light middleweight and becoming a two-eight undisputed female champion.
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Shields retained the WBC and WBO titles, added the IBF belt of Dicaire (17-1, 0 KOs) and also won the previously vacant WBA title. Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) won the scores of 100-90 from all three judges.
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Shields, age 25 of Flint, Michigan, U.S.A., was also the undisputed female middleweight champion. She is also the WBC and IBF female champion.
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Shields won the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic female middleweight gold medals and the 2014 and 2018 gold medalist at the World Championships.
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Dicaire, age 34 of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada, has held the IBF female light middleweight title since 2018, until dethroned by Shields.
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LeBron James and Kevin Durant selected their teams via draft, with Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo selected by James as the first overall pick. Joining Antetokounmpo and James as Team LeBron starters are Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, Dallas Mavericks' Luka Dončić and Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokić.
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Durant won't be playing due to a hamstring injury. He selected fellow Brooklyn Nets teammate Kyrie Irving with his first pick. Durant also chose Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, Los Angeles Clippers' Kawhi Leonard, Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal and Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum as starters.
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The first NBA All-Star Game was hosted at the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951, where the East All-Stars team defeated the West All-Stars team, 111–94.
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Boston Celtics' Ed Macauley was chosen as the first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, and the All-Star Game became a success, with an attendance of 10,094, very high compared to the season's average attendance of 3,500.
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Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator and historian, was the founder of the International Olympic Committee, and its second president. He is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games.
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He graduated with a degree in law and public affairs from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). It was at Sciences Po that he came up with the idea of the Summer Olympic Games.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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