George Kambosos Jr. and his promoter Lou DiBella are carefully looking over the possible options for the Australian fighter’s first defense of his newly won four lightweight titles.
Initially, WBC 135-lb champion Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko were viewed as the two fighters that Kambosos Jr (20-0, 10 KOs) would make his selection from for his first title defense, but now there’s a possibility that he could face Ryan Garcia.
Last week, Chris Mannix reported that the talks between Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) and Kambosos Jr had stalled due to Devin being displeased with the financial package.
However, on Saturday, Mannix reported that Bill Haney, the father/trainer of Devin said, “Money will not be an obstacle to making the fight with Kambosos.”
Even if money isn’t an issue, it would be smarter for Kambosos, 28, to swallow his pride and go in the direction of Ryan Garcia for his next fight rather than Haney or Lomachenko.
The chances of Kambosos Jr. losing to those two fighters is too high for him to take either of them in his next fight.
You can count me in as one of the many people who weren’t overly impressed with what I saw from Kambosos Jr in his upset win over Teofimo Lopez on November 27th in New York.
Kambosos got the win, but only because Teofimo looked physically ill and reportedly had a lunch condition that he went into the fight with.
If Kambosos Jr. wants to increase his chances of staying the four-belt champion a little longer, he should avoid Lomachenko and Haney.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn could offer Kambosos Jr a better deal than Top Rank or Golden Boy Promotions, but the Australian should resist that offer.
Ultimately, Kambosos can make more money by fighting Ryan Garcia next because it would give him an excellent chance of winning.
“Kambosos has to be financially smart,” said Chris Mannix to the DAZN Boxing Show.
“This is maybe his one opportunity to cash that lottery ticket. If you have to take a victory lap fight, before that next big fight, sometimes you’ve gotta do it.
“Sometimes the finances get in the way of making these fights happen.”
The victory lap for Kambosos would be him taking an interim title defense before facing Ryan Garcia in the second half of this year.
If Kambosos wins both of those fights back home in Australia, he can make a lot more money than if he were to face Lomachenko or Haney next and losing his titles.