Top Rank Presents IBF Lightweight World Championship: Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 09 May 2024
Saturday, May 11 Live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+
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(May 8, 2024) — Top Rank Boxing on ESPN presented by AutoZone: Lomachenko vs. Kambosos will be presented live this Saturday, May 11, at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+. The event takes place at RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, and continues Top Rank’s MAYhem Tour featuring 11 world title fights spanning four continents with 17 world champion belts up for grabs this month.
Australia’s fighting emperor and former unified world champion, George Kambosos, is on a mission for a new belt. Standing in his way is a Ukrainian fight legend, Vasiliy Lomachenko, a three-division world champion intent on writing another triumphant chapter in his Hall of Fame career.
Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) is the former pound-for-pound king, three-division world champion, and two-time Olympic gold medalist. After a 2020 points loss to Teofimo Lopez, he reeled off three consecutive wins. During that winning streak, he joined a territorial defense battalion in his homeland during the Russia-Ukraine war. Last May, he came close to becoming the undisputed lightweight champion, dropping a hotly contested decision to then-unbeaten phenom Devin “The Dream” Haney.
Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs), from Sydney, Australia, spent eight-plus years climbing the lightweight ranks after turning pro in 2013. He authored the 2021 Upset of the Year with a split decision over Teofimo Lopez to become the division’s unified and lineal world champion. In 2022, his showdown against Haney for the undisputed title drew more than 41,000 in Melbourne, Australia. Kambosos lost a unanimous decision to Haney, then dropped the rematch by decision four months later at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. “The Emperor” regrouped in 2023, edging Maxi Hughes by majority decision to secure another crack at world title glory.
The world title tripleheader includes WBA bantamweight world champion Nina Hughes making her second world title defense against Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson. Hughes (6-0, 2 KOs) turned pro in 2021 at 39 years old. She won the Commonwealth junior featherweight title in her third outing and upset Jamie Mitchell by unanimous decision in 2022 to capture the WBA bantamweight world title. Six years after turning pro in 2022, Johnson (15-2, 6 KOs) snatched the vacant IBF junior featherweight world title with a majority decision over Melissa Esquivel in Melbourne, Australia. Johnson lost her title last June in London in a unanimous decision to Ellie Scotney. Nearly a year later, she returns to bantamweight, motivated to become a two-weight queen.
Additionally, Australian standout Andrew Moloney (26-3, 16 KOs) will fight former WBC light flyweight world champion Pedro Guevara (41-4-1, 22 KOs) for the vacant WBC Interim junior bantamweight world title.
Calling the action will be ESPN’s Joe Tessitore and Hall of Famer, Timothy Bradley, Jr. with Bernardo Osuna, recently inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame, on-site in Perth.
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Original Program “Redemption Road: The Path Back to Glory” ahead of Lomachenko vs. Kambosos
Leading up to the showdown, fight fans are in for a treat with a 30-minute all-access preview prior to the highly anticipated championship battle between Ukrainian Vasiliy Lomachenko and Australian George Kambosos. The program offers an exclusive look inside the training camps of both fighters, giving fans a glimpse into the intense preparation leading up to this ‘Down Under’ world title showdown.
The program will also be available for replay on-demand in the ESPN App, on ESPN.com and on ESPN+.
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