Kambosos Jr.vs Hughes and Keyshawn Davis- Patera L Confirmed for July 22 at FireLake Arena LIVE on ESPN
George Kambosos Jr (20-2, 10 KOs) and Maxi Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs) have agreed to a deal to fight in the summer for the IBF #2 spot at lightweight on July 22 in Oklahoma.
The winner of the Kambosos Jr vs. Hughes fight could challenge for the IBF lightweight title if the current champion Devin Haney vacates his four belts to move up to 140 after his win over Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th.
For the former IBF, WBA, WBO & Ring Magazine lightweight champion Kambosos, it would be ideal for him to get another world title shot if he successfully defeats Hughes.
WHAT TIME IS KAMBOSOS JR VS. HUGHES?
- Date: Saturday, July 22
- Time: 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. BST
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 11:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. BST
- The fight will take place at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
- The main card is set to get underway at 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. BST with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. BST. These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
- The fight will be broadcast live on ESPN+ in the U.S.
It won’t be easy if he does fight for the vacant IBF title because he would need to face the hard-hitting #1 Gustavo Lemos (28-0, 18 KOs), who is a vicious body puncher.
Hughes has looked great lately, beating Kid Galahad, Jovanni Straffon, Ryan Walsh, Patrick Hyland Jr, Jono Carroll, and Viktor Kotochigov.
The way Hughes has looked in his last seven fights, he could send the 29-year-old Kambosos Jr to his third consecutive loss.
Kambosos had a bad year in 2022, losing his unified lightweight titles to Devin Haney and then getting beaten in their rematch last October as well.
Hughes has looked great since rebounding from a loss to Liam Walsh in 2019. If Kambosos loses this fight, it could be over for him because the defeat would send him sinking to the bottom or perhaps out of the tier altogether, as it would be his third straight loss.
“My motivation is to do it again. Pick up a few more belts and add them to the collection,” said Kambosos to GEEDUP Co. TV about his dream of becoming a two-time world champion.
“I’m a warrior. I love to fight, and I love to have that mentality. There’s still so much anticipation about who Kambosos is going to fight.
“I’m still the face of Australian boxing. It’s good to be known where, but it’s a whole other level when you’re known all over the world. It took for me to take out a top pound-for-pound top five guy, a guy that had just beaten Lomachenko in Teofimo Lopez.
KAMBOSOS JR VS. HUGHES FIGHT CARD
- George Kambosos Jr vs. Maxi Hughes; Lightweight
- Keyshawn Davis vs. Francesco Patera; Lightweight
- Giovani Santillan vs. Erick Bone; Welterweight
- Mike Balogun vs. Hemo Ahio; Heavyweight
- Roney Hines vs. Michael Pirotton; Heavyweight
- Troy Isley vs. TBA; Middleweight
- Jeremiah Milton vs. TBA; Heavyweight