Kambosos Tells Loma I Will Retire You; Loma Laughs – ‘See You In The Ring’

Vasiliy Lomachenko’s time in boxing could end, with the Ukrainian hinting at retirement, as George Kambosos Jr. vowed to end his career.

The three-division champion has achieved so much in boxing, yet becoming undisputed has not quite happened. He suffered a controversial unanimous decision loss against Devin Haney in his last fight. Despite the majority of the boxing community feeling he had done enough to win, Haney was given the decision. The loss meant Loma missed out on becoming the Undisputed Lightweight Champion.

The rematch never happened, as Haney moved up to 140. The Ukrainian took a break from boxing before agreeing to fight Kambosos on May 11. He faces the Australian for the vacant IBF Lightweight Title. Kambosos has plenty to prove too since beating Teofimo Lopez in an upset win to become the Unified Lightweight Champion. He lost his belts, losing twice to Devin Haney consecutively.

He did secure a win over Maxi Hughes in his last fight. However, the majority decision win was questionable, with the consensus that Kambosos lost. The winner has the potential to pursue unification fights. Gervonta Davis holds the WBA Lightweight Title. Shakur Stevenson has the WBC belt, making those two bouts possible. However, coming into the fight, Lomachenko admitted that he may not have too much time left. 

Lomachenko Reacts

“My career is almost done, of course. How many years it’s going to be, one, two, three, that’s it. But I still think I have a little bit of power. It’s a hard question [when will I retire exactly]. At this stage, every fight is hard. It’s hard to recover after fights. I don’t know what will happen with my body after this fight and that’s why I can’t give you an answer to this question [of when I will retire],” Lomachenko said

Kambosos has questioned Loma’s hunger. The Australian backed himself to overcome the Ukrainian, saying his sparring had replicated his opponent’s style. There are also worries that Lomachenko has not recovered mentally from the Haney loss. Following the defeat, he was seen in tears. While he did take a break from the sport, his country of Ukraine is at war with Russia. The boxer has been pictured on the front line, with suggestions that his long-term aims are far away from the sport. Kambosos was looking to exploit that. 

Kambosos Reacts

“A 100 percent Lomachenko has a lot left in the tank. But I don’t believe he has that dog inside of him anymore. I don’t think he wants it as bad as I do right now. You can never overlook a guy like Lomachenko. I’d be the biggest idiot if I were to do that. Lomachenko is an all-time great and a guy we have a lot of respect for. We are preparing for the best version of Lomachenko. Once that bell rings, the respect is out the door and it’s time to do the job,” Kambosos said

Kambosos will have the advantage of a home crowd. However, based on Kambosos’ performances against Haney, there is pressure to perform. The losses to Haney showed that the home crowd could be subdued. Both men had their pre-fight presser for the fight, having one of the longest face-offs ever. They stared at each other for three minutes, showing they meant business. They had plenty to say at the presser as they backed themselves in the contest.