Vasiliy Lomachenko dropped George Kambosos Jr twice in the 11th round before the towel came in from the Kambosos corner, scoring a TKO victory and winning the vacant IBF lightweight title.
Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KO) was in control for the vast majority of the fight, with Kambosos (21-3, 10 KO) hanging on mainly on grit and determination, as he found the Lomachenko puzzle too difficult to solve even in the early rounds.
A body shot put Kambosos down the first time, and then Lomachenko swarmed, throwing hard shots at the body and putting Kambosos down again, at which point the towel came in from nearby, with the action taking place in the Kambosos corner.
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The 36-year-old Lomachenko will have plentiful options going forward, including WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson and, potentially, the winner of next week’s Emanuel Navarrete vs Denys Berinchyk fight for the vacant WBO belt. Stevenson, who returns on July 6, is with Top Rank still, as is Navarrete.
WBA titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis said on social media during the fight that he’d like to fight Lomachenko after facing Frank Martin on June 15, but that will be seen as the least likely of the unification options, though it’s the biggest fight by some distance.
Kambosos, 30, has now lost three of four, and even the fight that he won last year against Maxi Hughes was highly controversial.
On the undercard
- Cherneka Johnson MD-10 Nina Hughes: Great moment here when the hack ring announcer read off first that Hughes had won, then had to correct himself after, which is good because it means the judges got it right, but he obviously crushed Hughes (6-1, 2 KO) with that. Johnson (16-2, 6 KO) has now won world titles at 122 and 118, as she took the WBA 118 lb belt from Hughes here, and she really had the fight of her life, boxing very effectively for the most part and finishing strong after Hughes got going with a couple of rounds in the second half.
- Pedro Guevara SD-12 Andrew Moloney: A minor upset, as Mexico’s Guevara goes on the road and gets two cards, both 115-113, to out-weigh the 116-113 card Moloney got at home in Australia. Think the judges got this one right, as our two unofficial cards were both 116-112 for Guevara, and could have given or taken a round either way, really. Moloney (26-4, 16 KO) was very upset after the fight and announced a retirement that probably won’t stick, I mean, if we’re all being serious and have seen boxing for more than a few months. Guevara is now 42-4-1 (22 KO) and has the interim WBC title at 115 lbs.