George Kambosos Jr.
George Kambosos Jr. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Real name | George Kambosos II | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight(s) | Lightweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (177 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Reach | 68 in (173 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 14 June 1993||||||||||||||||||||||
Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Boxing record | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total fights | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wins | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wins by KO | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Losses | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
George Kambosos Jr. (born 14 June 1993) is an Australian professional boxer who has held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles since 2021.
Early life[]
Kambosos was born in Sydney, Australia to parents of Greek descent.[2] His paternal grandparents moved from Sparta to Australia and Kambosos has the famous Spartan war cry "Never retreat, never surrender" tattooed on his body in homage to his heritage.[3] He began playing junior rugby league for the Gymea Gorillas at a young age[4] and was often bullied as a child for being overweight so his father enrolled him in boxing classes at 11 years of age to improve his fitness.[5] Kambosos quickly dropped the excess weight and was placed in the Cronulla Sharks development squad where he was coached by Ricky Stuart but found himself at a crossroad as a teenager when he was forced to choose between boxing and rugby league.[4] He elected to pursue the boxing pathway and began his fighting career by amassing 85 wins in 100 amateur fights before turning professional.[6]
Professional career[]
Early career[]
Kambosos made his professional boxing debut in May 2013, at the age of 19, when he faced Filipino fighter Jayson Mac Gura and was victorious via a second round technical knockout. In December 2016, he captured the WBA Oceania title by beating world number nine Brandon Ogilvie.[7][8] He then went on to face Qamil Balla in May 2017,[9] whom he defeated by unanimous decision in a ten-round fight.[10] Five months later, he knocked out Krai Setthaphon in the ninth round and won the WBA Oceania and IBF Pan Pacific titles in the lightweight division.[11] In June 2017, Kambosos was tabbed by Manny Pacquiao as his main sparring partner in preparation for the fight with Jeff Horn[12] and has remained Pacquiao's main sparring partner for his fights after Horn as well.[13] In April 2018, Kambosos signed a promotional contract with DiBella Entertainment.[14] In May 2018, he made his debut in the US[15] and knocked out Jose Forero in just 1 minute and 48 seconds.[16] On 19 January 2019, Kambosos defeated Rey Perez at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Adrien Broner via unanimous decision in his second fight on US soil.[17] On 7 June in Athens, Kambosos returned to his native land of Greece and knocked out Venezuelan 11–2 (9 KOs) Richard Pena in round six in front of the packed out Galatsi Olympic Hall. He called out former two division world champion José Pedraza after his victory.
Rise up the ranks[]
Kambosos vs. Bey[]
On 14 December 2019, Kambosos faced his toughest opponent yet, former IBF lightweight champion Mickey Bey. He won the bout by split decision on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas.[18]
Kambosos vs. Selby[]
On 31 October 2020, Kambosos defeated former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby by split decision at The SSE Arena in London.[19] The win over Selby made Kambosos the mandatory challenger for the IBF lightweight title.[20]
Unified lightweight champion[]
Kambosos vs. López[]
On 9 January 2021, the IBF ordered undefeated unified lightweight champion Teófimo López to defend his titles against Kambosos, their number one contender and mandatory challenger.[21] The fight was initially set for 5 June 2021 at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, before being postponed multiple times, due to complications involving López contracting COVID-19,[22] and disputes over the venue of the fight.[23][24] The fight had gone to purse bids which was won by Triller with a winning bid of over US$6 million. However, on 6 October, it transpired that the IBF had found Triller in default of its contract obligation to stage the fight, and that its rights would be awarded to the second highest bidder, Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, and the fight was shown live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN.[25][26] Kambosos won the bout via split decision to become the new unified lightweight world champion. One judge had it 114–113 for López, while the other two judges scored the bout 115–112 and 115–111 in favour of Kambosos.[27]
Professional boxing record[]
20 fights | 20 wins | 0 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 10 | 0 |
By decision | 10 | 0 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | Win | 20–0 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | 27 Nov 2021 | ![]() |
Won WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles |
19 | Win | 19–0 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | 31 Oct 2020 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 18–0 | ![]() |
SD | 10 | 14 Dec 2019 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 17–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (10), 1:36 | 7 Jun 2019 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 16–0 | ![]() |
UD | 8 | 19 Jan 2019 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 15–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (8), 2:02 | 15 Jul 2018 | ![]() |
|
14 | Win | 14–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (10), 1:48 | 5 May 2018 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 13–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (10), 1:59 | 13 Oct 2017 | ![]() |
Retained WBA Oceania lightweight title; Won vacant IBF Pan Pacific lightweight title |
12 | Win | 12–0 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | 6 May 2017 | ![]() |
|
11 | Win | 11–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 2 Dec 2016 | ![]() |
Won WBA Oceania lightweight title |
10 | Win | 10–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 4 (12), 3:00 | 8 Jun 2016 | ![]() |
Retained WBA-PABA lightweight title |
9 | Win | 9–0 | ![]() |
KO | 4 (12), 2:34 | 12 Dec 2015 | ![]() |
Retained WBA-PABA lightweight title |
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (12), 2:59 | 4 Jul 2015 | ![]() |
Won WBA-PABA interim lightweight title |
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 31 Jan 2015 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | 29 Aug 2014 | ![]() |
Won Australian lightweight title |
5 | Win | 5–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (6), 2:30 | 9 Apr 2014 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 29 Jan 2014 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (8), 2:59 | 22 Nov 2013 | ![]() |
Won vacant NSW state lightweight title |
2 | Win | 2–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 17 Aug 2013 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (6), 2:06 | 18 May 2013 | ![]() |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b DAZN Boxing tale of the tape prior to the Teófimo Lòpez fight
- ^ Dalatariof, Panagiotis (2 March 2020). "George "Ferocious" Kambosos Jr – The unbeaten Greek Australian fighter who dreams of being world champion!". greekherald.com.au.
- ^ Kambosos Jr, George (12 September 2018). "I'm Australia's best athlete – George Kambosos Jr". greekherald.com.au.
- ^ a b Dalatariof, Panagiotis (5 June 2020). "George "Ferocious" Kambosos Jr – The unbeaten Greek Australian fighter who dreams of being world champion!". theaustralian.com.au.
- ^ Santoliquito, Joseph (27 October 2020). "George Kambosos Jr. overcame bullying and scorn to reach prime time against Lee Selby". ringtv.com.
- ^ Cocks, Anthony (15 August 2017). "Kambosos Jr. targets world top five". boxingmonthly.com.
- ^ Parkinson, Andrew (29 November 2016). "George Kambosos Jnr ready for Luna Park rumble". theleader.com.au.
- ^ Hamilton-Irvine, Gary (5 December 2016). "Boxing: Kambosos Jnr beats Ogilvie, remains undefeated". theleader.com.au.
- ^ Schelle, Caroline (1 May 2017). "Qamil Balla targets lightweight champ George Kambosos Jr". Herald Sun.
- ^ Parkinson, Andrew (8 May 2017). "George 12-0 after big victory". theleader.com.au.
- ^ "George "Ferocious" Kambosos 9th round TKO of Krai Setthaphon in Melbourne Highlights". supernewsworld.com.
- ^ "Pacquiao spars with Aussie who fights like Horn". news.abs-cbn.com. 4 June 2017.
- ^ "LOOK: Pacquiao begins hard sparring for Adrien Broner fight". news.abs-cbn.com. 4 December 2018.
- ^ "George Kambosos Jr. signs with Dibella". BoxingNews24.com. 11 April 2018.
- ^ "George Kambosos Ready To Make a Big Splash in United States". BoxingScene.com.
- ^ "George Kambosos Jr Picks Up Win by KO over Jose Forero – BoxingSocialist". boxingsocialist.com. 7 May 2018.
- ^ "Kambosos, Pacquiao Sparring Partner, Easily Out-Boxes Perez". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "George Kambosos Jr. Defeats Mickey Bey in biggest test of his career". 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Kambosos' big win snares world title shot".
- ^ "George Kambosos Gets Split Nod over Lee Selby in IBF Eliminator".
- ^ "IBF orders lightweight world title fight between Aussie George Kambosos Jnr and Teofimo Lopez Jnr". Fox Sports Australia. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Lopez tests positive for Covid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "IBF ends Triller's Aussie plan for Lopez-Kambosos". ESPN.com. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Lopez-Kambosos now targeted for Middle East". ESPN.com. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "IBF awards Lopez-Kambosos bout to Matchroom". ESPN.com. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "Eddie Hearn confirms Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos will now be promoted by Matchroom Boxing, broadcast by DAZN | DAZN News US". DAZN. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "George Kambosos Jr. shocks Teofimo Lopez in split decision to become new unified world lightweight champion | DAZN News US". DAZN. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
External links[]
- George Kambosos Jr. at Boxrec
- 1993 births
- Living people
- Australian male boxers
- Australian people of Greek descent
- Boxers from Sydney
- World lightweight boxing champions
- World Boxing Association champions
- International Boxing Federation champions
- World Boxing Organization champions
- The Ring (magazine) champions