In a possible candidate for ‘Upset of the Year’, George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KO’s) won a SD 12 over former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez (16-1 12 KO’s). Australia’s Kambosos walked away with Lopez’s WBA, IBF, WBO, and WBC belts this past Saturday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Kambosos, pulled off what everybody thought was a huge upset – everyone except him that is. George sauntered into MSG in New York and upset previously undefeated Teofimo Lopez in a fight that many felt not only would Kambosos lose, but he might lose early, and in destructive fashion.
I was one of those people. I certainly thought that Kambosos, while game and gutsy, wouldn’t have the firepower to stand up to Lopez over 12 rounds. Credit where credit is due. Kambosos executed a game plan in doing exactly what he said he would in standing up to Lopez, a respected power puncher with considerable speed, and simply beat him in most, if not all, areas of the bout. While the fight was close, I do think the right guy won. While Lopez had a much better seat than I did, Teofimo’s claims after the fight that he felt he won 10 of the 12 rounds seemed to stem from emotion more than reality.
Lopez was bound and determined to catch Kambosos with a fight-ending right hand early in the contest, but Kambosos locked his timing in and managed to slip most of them throughout the night. While Kambosos didn’t appear to be as big a puncher as Lopez, he did match him in the speed department, and he rattled off fast and effective combinations to the head and body of Lopez that did a lot of damage over the course of the fight.
Adjustments, the mark of a well-prepared fighter, didn’t seem an option for Teofimo on this night, for whatever reason. Despite Kambosos catching Lopez with left hook counter shots time and again, Lopez didn’t seem to ever get his right-side defense in place. And, a hard Kambosos jab, that repeatedly caught Lopez, (he seemed unable to slip it), did more damage to an already nasty gash over his eye.
After the fight, Kambosos was complimentary and respectful to Lopez in a scenario where he could have easily taken to boasting and unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Conversely, post-fight wasn’t a good look for Lopez. A clearly flustered and frustrated Lopez in interrupting the Kambosos interview, stated that, “The referee raised my hand. I won tonight. I don’t care what anybody says, yo. I won tonight. At the end of the day I’ve been here, I’ve done that. I want to thank God. I want to thank everybody that came out tonight. Look. I ain’t no sore loser”, he said. “I take my wins, I can take my losses. I’m a true champion. I came out here. I did what I had to do, and I went out there and I did my best. I don’t care what anybody says man. I am as real as they come. This is ‘the takeover’ man. We don’t stop. We keep coming. Yo. I love you all. I won this fight”, he continued. “You know what man? I know what it is. I know how these people work. The referee knew I won tonight. Everybody knew I won tonight and I’m just thankful…I don’t believe it was a close fight at all. At the end, I scored it 10-2”.
In fairness to Lopez, he made those statements, minutes after being shocked in front of his hometown. When that fight started, everyone, save for the few Australians there, were rooting loud for Lopez. Coming up short, after all but promising a short and vicious ending for Kambosos, had to be a hard pill to swallow for a fighter who had yet to taste defeat in his career.
Kambosos stated that he never stopped training throughout the multiple delays for the bout. He looked very prepared for what he wanted to execute, and he seemed unfazed by anything thrown at him by Lopez. On the contrary, Lopez came out like a guy looking to end it in the first few rounds and when that didn’t happen, he appeared to be at a loss for how to execute plan ‘B’. But wait, I don’t think they had a plan B. Like many before the fight, they too didn’t think they’d need to worry about much beyond the first couple of rounds.
Kambosos was dialed in all fight from first bell until the end. How about Lopez? He just became a father, he had battled Covid, he had been out of the ring for a year, and you know he struggled hard to hit the 135 number on the scale? Maybe all these things affected him more than we knew.
So, two very good fighters who now have seen their career take very different turns. The question is, what is next?
For Lopez, as he has said, it’s back to the gym and a re-set. He must get that nasty cut dealt with or it may be one that hampers him in fights down the line. Does he bring in a new trainer to assist his father? I would assume he returns at 140 as he has probably had more than enough of scraping his frame down to 135. The loss, while heartbreaking right now, might be something that ultimately makes him a better fighter in the long run.
For Kambosos, the future is very bright. A fight with Vasyl Lomachenko? Or, any of the lightweight champions? Does he run it back again with Teofimo? For now, he can bask in the glow of the possible ‘Upset of the Year’ and perhaps the ‘Fight of the Year’. After the fight you couldn’t help but be happy for Team Kambosos. They were so happy with their win, maintained their poise, respected their opponent, and deserve to bask in the glow of the monumental victory they earned.
George Kambosos went into the very toughest of situations for a fighter and did exactly what he said he would do. Teofimo Lopez, who appeared to have everything going for him (size, resume, venue, crowd), wasn’t allowed to execute what he said he would and ultimately came up short.
Kambosos will have some extremely lucrative offers as he resides in a star-packed division with whom he could demand big money to face.
Lopez, as polite and friendly a young man as you could hope to meet away from boxing, is a vastly talented fighter who should rebound from this and come back a better, more mature, and more experienced boxer.
This fight was a great learning experience for each fighter. It was a terribly tough day at the office for Lopez and the fulfillment of a dream, and a lotta hard work, for Kambosos.
In the end, albeit under vastly different outcomes, they will both emerge from this battle better fighters.
Final thoughts: You must feel good for Kambosos. He never listened to the 13-1 odds-makers, never listened to the boastful predictions of a fighter most felt would drill him, was completely void of any intimidation under the most trying of settings and circumstances and did exactly what he said would do – and that is walk out of that ring a world champion.
