Vasiliy Lomachenko's quest to recapture a world title will continue when he travels to Australia to take on former champion George Kambosos for the IBF lightweight belt in Perth on May 12, live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 31 January 2024 08:14, UK
Vasiliy Lomachenko, one of the greats of modern boxing, will fight George Kambosos for the vacant IBF lightweight world title on May 12, live on Sky Sports.
He will travel to Perth to take on Australia's Kambosos as the legendary Ukrainian looks to recapture a title belt against a former champion.
Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medallist who won his first world championship in just his third professional fight.
He went on to become a three-weight world champion, unifying titles at lightweight.
Lomachenko lost his belts when he suffered a shock defeat to an inspired Teofimo Lopez. But after that, he racked up impressive wins over Richard Commey and Jamaine Ortiz.
In one of the highest calibre fights of 2023, he fought Devin Haney for the undisputed lightweight title, only losing on a contentious points decision.
Haney has now moved up to super-lightweight, leaving the IBF 135lb title vacant.
"Right now, my goal is to become a world champion again," Lomachenko said. "After that, I can start thinking about becoming undisputed.
"I respect George Kambosos because he never gives up during a fight. It will be a very interesting fight because we have two different styles, and styles make fights."
Kambosos will have the home crowd on his side when he faces Lomachenko for the belt and is guaranteed to be a determined opponent.
He became a three-belt holder when he shocked Teofimo Lopez in 2021 and the Australian has plenty of experience in top-level contests.
Devin Haney is the only man to defeat him. Haney overcame Kambosos in a 2022 undisputed title fight and then repeated a victory over him in a subsequent rematch.
Lomachenko though insisted: "Our fights with Devin Haney were two different fights. There were two different styles. If we talk about my fight with Haney, I didn't lose that fight, in my opinion.
"If we talk about Haney-Kambosos, Kambosos had two chances and he lost."
The Australian hit back, saying: "Yes, I lost to Devin Haney, but you had your chance with Teofimo Lopez and you didn't take your chance. I did."
Kambosos did come back from his defeats to Haney with a win, beating Maxi Hughes by majority decision last year.
"I never step away from a challenge. I always want to fight the best. And Vasiliy Lomachenko is a guy we have looked at for a very long time. This guy is a legend," Kambosos declared. "This fight rejuvenates my career. This gives me my redemption.
"Yes, I've won the big fights and I've lost the big fights. But for me, this fight is about legacy. Two warriors coming together for a big fight. Our careers are on the line here. Legacy is on the line here.
"And I believe this is my destiny."
Sky Sports will broadcast the Lomachenko-Kambosos fight live in the early hours of the morning on Sunday May 12.
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