boxing
Teofimo Lopez v George Kambosos (Undercard and Main Card)

George Kambosos vs. Teofimo Lopez: Kambosos crowned new lightweight world champion with split decision victory

Sam Morgan
• 10 min read
George Kambosos

George Kambosos has stunned the boxing world to beat Teofimo Lopez in a brutal 12-round battle to claim the unified world lightweight title.

The Australian overcame heavy favouritism behind his American opponent, dominating the middle rounds to earn a split decision victory.

Lopez came out charging as promised from the first bell, but was put on the canvas by Kambosos which gave the Aussie plenty of confidence to start the fight.

The pair exchanged their own moments through the early rounds but by the fifth it was clear Kambosos had the upper hand, with his right-handed jabs and speed causing havoc.

Lopez would find his way back into the contest in the later rounds, landing a knockdown of his own in the 10th, and looked to have found the ascendency right when it mattered.

It wasn't enough to convince the judges however, who scored the fight 115-111 for Kambosos, 114-113 for Lopez and 115-112 for Kambosos to crown the still undefeated Australian as the new lightweight world champion.

"I'm the better fighter," Kambosos told the crowd inside the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

It was certainly a fight that was worth waiting for given the disrupted build-up.

The fight was first set for June 5 but has been rescheduled multiple times this year, due to a clash with the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul fight,  Lopez getting COVID-19  and contract issues with original promoter Triller.

Kambosos vs. Lopez: As It Happened

3:50pm - GEORGE KAMBOSOS DOES IT!

George Kambosos is the new World Lightweight Champion! The Australian wins by split decision after 12 rounds of gruelling boxing. A huge upset and one which has won Kambosos huge admiration for the way he stayed in the fight and rode out an early all-out attack from Lopez.

3:44pm - Kambosos favoured at the end of the 12th!

That was as even as fights come but there is no doubting which man is wearing more damage from those 12 rounds of pure war! Lopez's face is covered in blood and Kambosos looks very confident he's won this one after recovering in the 11th round. It'll be tough to take this away from 'Ferocious'. A decision awaits. 

3:41pm - Kambosos regains the momentum heading into championship round!

A cut above Lopez's left eye has opened up and Kambosos had some success targeting the injury in the 11th with two clean jabs. Lopez landed a decent shot of his own but this fight looks to have levelled out again!

3:38pm - Lopez lands biggest blows of the fight in the 10th

Kambosos' momentum has been stopped. Lopez landed two heavy blows to the head, the second of which threw Kambosos to the canvas. Lopez may have even missed an opportunity for the knockout. Lopez looks to have caught a second wind and boasted more energy in this round.

3:32pm - Lopez has his best round in the ninth

There's no doubt Lopez owned that ninth round. Kambosos looked hurt after Lopez landed two big hits to the head with a minute left that took the sting out of the Aussie. This could go either way.

3:29pm - Lopez lands much-needed hits late in eighth

Lopez just climbed his way back into this contest with two late hits to Kambosos' head. Overall, both fighters landed 19 punches, the highest count for the fight. This is some battle!

3:24pm - Kambosos Jnr has upper hand after seven rounds

Both fighters have had their moments in the middle rounds but the commentators are all in agreeance that Kambosos has the ascendency in this bout. The Aussie's punches have been more effective and he looks to have the endurance over his opponent. Still a way to go but it looks to be in Kambosos' favour!

3:21pm - Kambosos Jnr connects with the right hand in the sixth

Kambosos Jnr has run straight towards this contest and shown plenty of bravery after the way Lopez started this fight. In the sixth round he connected with a few crucial right hand jabs. He's testing Lopez, who doesn't have this fight on the terms he was hoping for.

3:17pm - Lopez imposes himself in the fifth

Lopez had some more success with the jab to the chest and head and his right hook is also causing Kambosos some problems but there's no doubting the Aussie has everyone in the arena stunned. He's having fun out there.

3:13pm - Kambosos Jnr dials it up in the fourth

Lopez walked back to his corner confidently but there's no doubt Kambosos finished the third round off strongly. His last punch of the round rocked Lopez, who almost fell to the canvas only held up thanks to the end of the round being called.

3:10pm - Both fighters hits during the third

There's no doubting Lopez went about this round more cautiously. Both fighters were patient, exchanging body shots and a handful of effective jabs each.

Lopez arguably landed his best blow with an uppercut late in the round but Kambosos has found success with the overhead.

3:00pm - Kambosos drops Lopez to end the 1st round!

The early ascendency in the first was all Lopez's. Kambosos did well to ride his opponent's attacks but there's no doubting he made a statement to end the round.

After absorbing an onslaught of right-handers, the Aussie dropped Lopez with a huge right hand of his own, which took the American a few seconds to get to his feet from. 

2:57pm - Lopez fires away to start the fight!

At the drop of the bell Lopez's intentions were clear - the defending champion threw a few haymakers Kamosos' way early. He said he was going for the first-round knockout, and that was made clear from the outset.

2:50pm - Both fighters make their way into the ring

It was reported in commentary both fighters had to be re-routed into the arena to avoid an awkward cross-over - drama early!

Lopez arrives to huge fanfare sporting a black and gold robe, while a hyperfocused Kambosos rocks a complete white robe.

2:00pm - Both fighters arrive at the arena ahead of the main event!

Full fight card results

Card subject to change.

George Kambosos Jr. def. Teofimo Lopez via split decision (115-111, 113-114, 115-112)

Kenichi Ogawa def. Azinga Fuzile via unanimous decision (115-110, 115-110, 114-111)

Raymond Ford def. Felix Caraballo by TKO

Zhilei Zhang def. Craig Lewis by TKO

Ramla Ali vs. Isela Vera - four rounds at super-bantamweight

Christina Cruz vs. Marygueen Vellinga Hinz - six rounds at flyweight

Anthony Herrera vs. Jonathan Herrera - four rounds at bantamweight

How to watch Kambosos vs. Lopez in Australia

The entire fight card will be broadcast live in Australia through streaming service DAZN.

Fans in Australia require a subscription to the service to view the fight but the good news is DAZN costs just $2.99 per month.

Sign up for DAZN here.

In addition to Kambosos vs. Lopez, fight fans get access to a range of boxing's biggest names, all exclusive to DAZN.

The lightweights are also on show next weekend, with Devin Haney looking to defend his WBC strap against JoJo Diaz, live and exclusive on DAZN.

When is Kambosos vs. Lopez?

The bout will be held at Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theatre in New York City on  Saturday, November 27 (November 28 in Australia ), Thanksgiving weekend in the US.

The eight-fight event is set to begin at 10:30am AEDT, with the main card kicking off at midday.

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

Kambosos and Lopez will have been out of the ring for over a year by the time fight night comes around.

"This rivalry has been cooking for a long time and now we finally get to see them put it to bed in the Big Apple," Hearn said.

"Teofimo is one of the big young stars in the sport but George is a hungry proud Aussie who knows that this is the chance to put his name amongst the elite of the game."

Who is George Kambosos Jr.?

George 'Ferocious' Kambosos is yet to be defeated in his professional boxing career with a 19-0 record, 10 coming by way of knockout.

The Aussie is an experienced boxer for his age, tallying up 100 amateur boxing bouts, winning 85 of them before turning professional.

Kambosos was born in Sydney to parents of Greek and Spartan descent. The 28-year-old has a Spartan war cry tattoo on his back 'never retreat, never surrender'. 

The undefeated fighter is an intense individual in-and-out of the boxing ring - which is why his nickname is 'Ferocious'. 

This is the biggest fight of his career against a highly-skilled opponent in world champion Lopez.

Who is Teofimo Lopez? 

Lopez is the current unified lightweight world champion, having held the IBF title since 2019, and the WBA, WBO, and The Ring magazine titles since defeating Vasyl Lomachenko. 

Lopez has a record of 16-0 with 12 KO's. The champ rose to mainstream stardom when he shocked the world by defeating former champ and Olympic gold medallist Lomachenko.

There is bad blood between Lopez and Kambosos and it has only heated up due to the repeated delays. They had to be separated at the press conference earlier this year. 

To make the fight even more interesting, both fighters are undefeated in their professional careers. 

As boxing legend Michael Spinks famously said, "somebody's 0 has got to go."

Kambosos vs. Lopez pre-fight betting odds

Teofimo Lopez $1.13
George Kambosos $6.50
Draw $29

Odds courtesy of Palmerbet.

Which belts were on the line?

Kambosos will be hoping to join some of the greats of Australian boxing by become unified champ.

Lopez was already lightweight champion with the IBF before he defeated Lomachenko, taking the WBA, WBO and The Ring titles in the process.

Devin Haney currently holds the WBC belt at 135-lbs, while Gervonta Davis is considered the WBA 'regular' champion.

Australia hasn't had a unified champ in any division since Kostya Tszyu.

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Sam Morgan
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Lopez v Kambosos
Teofimo Lopez v George Kambosos (Undercard and Main Card)
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