PERTH, Australia — Jorge Linares gives his pick to have former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko battle George Kambosos Jr., the gym champ, on May 12 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, for the vacant IBF lightweight title.
Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) from Soviet Union is a skilled fighter who has faced opponents before, so Linares, a boxing expert and former three-division world champion, is familiar with his abilities. Kambosos Jr.(21-2, 10 KOs) a 30-year old boxer from Australia, is a fighter that appears well in the gym but is mediocre on fight night, according to Linares.
“I think Lomachenko wins that fight. He’s a world champion in the gym, but in the ring, he is different… He just doesn’t do the same things that he does in the gym,” said Linares in media reports.
Not that Kambosos performs at his best at boot camp. Linares is mistaken. The issue is that when he faces skilled opponents, Kambosos looks mediocre since he simply isn’t as excellent a fighter as the other talents at 135 pounds. It is rather evident that Kambosos was caught off guard in his two fights with Devin Haney, as he lost both of them in 2022.
Kambosos’s final fight against Maxi Hughes last July was widely regarded by fans as one that should have ended in a loss. At his Top Rank debut in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the judges granted Kambosos a significant break by awarding him a 12-round bout. Had Kambosos lost that bout, it would have been his third straight loss and a hint that his days as a major fighter are essentially over.
“He pushes all his focus into his training camp, but [unlike Kambosos] he loses everything in the ring. That’s why I’m always with Lomachenko,” said Linares.
Lomachenko, 36, works hard and has benefited from superior training during his amateur career in Ukraine. He learnt from the star and faced the greatest competitors. It also helps that he is a great athlete. Sadly, Lomachenko should still be undefeated despite having been robbed multiple times. He learned the hard way what it’s like to play in the professional league.
