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George Kambosos Jr. senses that he defeated Teofimo Lopez almost as convincingly as Lopez claimed he had won their lightweight title fight right after it ended Saturday night in New York.
The difference, according to Kambosos, is that his score of their 12-round, 135-pound championship match is based on what actually occurred inside the ring at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater.
“I don’t even think it was close, to be honest,” Kambosos told BoxingScene.com on Sunday. “I had it 9-3.”
Two judges – Frank Lombardi (115-111) and Glenn Feldman (115-112) – scored eight rounds apiece for Australia’s Kambosos, who won a split decision. The newly crowned IBF, WBA, WBC “franchise” and WBO champ narrowly lost on the scorecard of judge Don Trella, who scored Lopez a 114-113 winner of a fight in which he was heavily favored.
Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) drew boos from fans at ringside when he contended following Kambosos’ dramatic upset that he had won 10 of the 12 rounds in a main event DAZN streamed. The 28-year-old Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) didn’t take what Lopez said seriously.
“I think he was a little bit concussed,” Kambosos said. “He took some big shots in that fight, so concussed, a little bit delusional. Yeah, it is what it is. I don’t have to say anything, to be honest. The whole world saw the fight. His own fans in the crowd were booing him. That just shows, you know, the kind of maturity he has. But at the end of the day, I’m not gonna disrespect him.
“It is what it is. He’ll move on to do whatever he wants to do now. I’m focused and I’ve got all these belts now. So, the world saw what happened last night, the fans saw what happened. And I don’t think there’s a man in the world or woman in the world that believed it was any other way, except for Lopez and Lopez Sr.”
Lopez’s father, also his head trainer, insisted that his son, who knocked Kambosos to the canvas early in the 10th round, clearly beat the mandatory challenger for his IBF belt.
“I’ve gotta really look at it again,” Kambosos said. “But if it wasn’t for me making some silly mistakes right in that round 10 and losing my composure – because I got a little bit excited for the fans, with the crowd. I love fighting for the fans. I love giving them a battle and I know they’ve had to wait so long for this fight, so you know, I really wanted to showcase for them. But it was a very good win, good victory.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.