Aussie ready for ‘war’ in fight of his life

Kambosos goes into the bout as a massive underdog against Lopez, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC lightweight titles.

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This fight with Lopez has been a long time coming. It was originally scheduled for June but was pushed back to August when Lopez tested positive to Covid-19.

But that date never came to fruition and October was the eyed date.

Alas, that also didn’t materialise, and social media platform Triller, who had paid AUD$8.4 million to stage the fight, threw in the towel.

Instead, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, who were the second highest bidders, inherited the rights.

Despite the delays, Kambosos’ desire to pull off an upset for the ages is as strong as ever, revealing he has barely left the gym in recent months.

“It really doesn’t matter how long this fight has taken, I’m just very excited,” he told The Sun.

“I stayed in the gym, I’m stronger than ever, my tunnel vision has been unbelievably strong and the way I look at it, this is war.

“War does not take a day to win, sometimes it takes months, sometimes it takes years.

“This isn’t going to take years, but it really, really has been a war of attrition, it’s the small steps, the small battles.

“Focused, patient, staying hungry and now we’re here.”

“I’ve got better and better and I know he hasn’t, he’s gone backwards. I’m always in the gym, there’s never any set camps for me.

“I’m always in the gym, it just depends where I am whether I’m in Sydney or Miami.”

Neither Kambosos or Lopez have fought this year, but the Aussie is confident his training has him in good shape to take the American’s belts off him.

“As we get closer we just up the tempo and up the rounds, but I’m always in the gym, perfecting my craft and getting better and better.

“Maybe Lopez is hoping I would burn out or start to pull away but that’s not me.

“That’s how much this means to me and how much I love this sport. I just stayed very focused, continued to get better.”

If he pulls off an unlikely win, Kambosos will become the first Australian unified boxing world champion since Kostya Tszyu.

“This will be huge, I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” he said.

“This will be probably inside the top five most historic victories in Australian history, it would put me down as the greatest fighter in the country.

“That’s no disrespect to our great legends of the past, but facts are facts and it’s massive.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the fight.

Where is the fight?

The Kambosos-Lopez fight is being held at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theatre in New York City on Sunday November 28 (AEDT).

What time is the fight?

The undercard will start at 9am (AEDT) on Sunday, with the main card scheduled to get underway at 12pm (AEDT).

Kambosos and Lopez are expected to make their ring walks some time after 3pm (AEDT), depending on how the earlier fights pan out.

How can I watch the fight?

The entire fight card will be available to stream via the Australian streaming service DAZN.

You can sign up to a subscription for $2.99 a month.

The broadcast starts at 9am (AEDT) and will feature the first four fights on the card, followed by the main card starting at midday, which is headlined by the Kambosos-Lopez bout.

Tale of the tape

Lopez has a record of 16-0 including 12 knockouts. As the unified lightweight world champion, the American has the more impressive CV, having risen to prominence by upsetting dual Olympic boxing champion Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020.

Kambosos also has an undefeated record (19-0, 10 knockouts) and is very experienced having contested 100 fights during his amateur career.

Both fighters stand at 173cm tall.

What are the betting odds?

Lopez is the overwhelming favourite to win, paying $1.10 with the bookies compared with Kambosos, who is a huge underdog at $6.

Here are some other markets for the method of victory.

Lopez Points or Decision: $4

Lopez KO/TKO: $1.45

Draw: $26

Kambosos Points or Decision: $12

Kambosos KO/TKO: $9.50

Full fight card

Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr — 12 rounds for the IBF, WBO, WBA and The Ring lightweight titles

Azinga Fuzile vs Kenichi Ogawa 12 — 12 rounds for the IBF super-featherweight title

Reshat Mati vs Dimitri Trenel — eight rounds at super-lightweight

Zhilei Zhang vs Bernardo Marquez — 10 rounds at heavyweight

Raymond Ford vs Felix Caraballo — 10 rounds at featherweight

Christina Cruz vs Marygueen Vellinga Hinz — six rounds at light-flyweight

Ramla Ali vs Isela Vera — six rounds at super-bantamweight

Anthony Herrera vs Alexis Salido — four rounds at bantamweight

With The Sun

Originally published as George Kambosos vs Teofimo Lopez fight guide: Start time, how to stream, odds