Kambosos: Couldn't Look At Myself In The Mirror If I Took Easy Road In First Defense

George Kambosos Jr. could’ve taken a proverbial victory lap in his native Australia after he upset Teofimo Lopez.

A safe stadium fight in Kambosos’ home country would’ve been understandable for a boxer who completely changed his life by beating an undefeated, unified lightweight champion. Sydney’s Kambosos wasn’t the least bit interested in defending his titles against a lesser opponent, though.

The unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBO 135-pound champion insisted on taking a difficult fight. His promoter, Lou DiBella, tried to put together a showdown with three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, but Lomachenko became unavailable because he is committed to assisting in Ukraine’s military efforts during its war with Russia.

DiBella instead secured a fight against WBC world champion Devin Haney on Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. If the 28-year-old Kambosos wins, he’ll become just the eighth fully unified champion in any division during boxing’s four-belt era.

“I just couldn’t look at myself in the mirror,” Kambosos told BoxingScene.com, “and say, ‘You know what? You’ve gone through so much adversity and the hard road. You’ve fought the best and now you wanna take an easy road here?’ I couldn’t do it. This is legacy. This is about fighting the best and being the best.

“More fighters need to look at what I’m doing and say, ‘You know what? Forget not wanting to take a risk. Take the risk, and with the risk comes reward,’ and that’s what I’ve always been about. My whole career’s been full of risks. I’m a warrior and I wanna challenge myself against the best warriors in the world. I wanna give the fans a great show every time.”

Haney holds the only recognized championship Kambosos didn’t win from Lopez on November 27 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York. The Oakland native also proved his desire to take the toughest bouts because, to land the Kambosos fight, he switched promoters – from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing to Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. – and agreed to box Kambosos in an immediate rematch in Australia if he wins.

Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) applauded Haney’s ambition and urged their contemporaries in the lightweight division to embrace the most difficult fights.

“Look, a lot of fighters say it,” Kambosos said. “There’s a difference between saying it and doing it, and not many actually do it. I want the world to say, ‘You know what? These fighters should take a look at what Kambosos is doing and fight the best.’ If people say they’re the best in the division, then why not challenge yourself and give the boxing fans and the boxing world the great fights? And that’s what I’ll keep doing.”

Kambosos was the mandatory challenger for Lopez’s IBF title. Their fight first was postponed early last June, when Lopez contracted COVID-19, and numerous times thereafter.

When Kambosos finally got his title shot, he made the most of his opportunity. He surprisingly sent Lopez to the canvas in the first round, withstood Lopez’s late rally, which included a 10th-round knockdown, and won a split decision (115-111, 115-112, 113-114).

Kambosos’ fight with the slightly favored Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) will be televised by ESPN on Saturday night in the United States. The opening bell is expected to ring at approximately 11:15 p.m. ET.

Kambosos-Haney will headline a Foxtel Main Event pay-per-view show Sunday afternoon in Australia. Their fight will begin at around 1:15 p.m. local time.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.