Vasiliy Lomachenko vs George Kambosos Jr – Results & Post Fight Report

Vasyl Lomachenko became the new IBF and IBO lightweight world champion in dominant fashion, as he proved too good for former unified world champion George Kambosos Jr to take an eleventh round stoppage win at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Lomachenko (18-3, KO12) was a highly decorated amateur, and had taken world titles at featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight, but was coming off a close loss on the cards to Devin Haney last May, while Kambosos (21-3, KO10) briefly reigned as unified king, stunning Teofimo Lopez in 2021. before shipping his titles to Haney, twice losing on points in 2022. Kambosos took a disputed majority win against Maxi Hughes in his last outing to win the IBO bauble, while the vacant IBF crown was also on the line Down Under.

Lomachenko set his stall out quickly here, using his superior footwork and skill to make his mark in the first round, and the second saw the Ukrainian unleash a volley of combinations, but he had to take a body shot that made him think from Kambosos during the round. Kambosos was closing the distance, but Lomachenko continued with his constant assaults and bursts of punches, frustrating the home fighter with accuracy and skill which he had no answer for. The first half was pure one-way traffic, and Lomachenko’s body work was proving impressive too in round seven, and by the eighth, Kambosos’ face was showing signs of significant damage, his right eye cut. The pattern continued into the championship rounds until Lomachenko made the breakthrough in the penultimate frame, with a savage shot to the body doing the damage, and forcing Kambosos to the canvas. He bravely beat the count, but Lomachenko uncorked a ferocious flurry of shots mainly to the body, and as Kambosos took a knee and a count, the referee stopped the fight just as the towel was coming in from the Kambosos corner.

On the undercard, Jason Moloney lost his world title out in Japan this past week, and his brother Andrew Moloney (26-4, KO16) didn’t fare any better, as he lost a split decision to WBC interim super flyweight champion, Pedro Guevara (42-4-1, KO22). Two scores of 115-113 were enough for the victory for the Mexican, while a third judge had it 116-113 for Moloney.

Nina Hughes (6-1, KO2) lost her WBA world bantamweight title, as former IBF champion Cherneka Johnson (16-2, KO6) took a majority decision win in their meeting. Hughes can count herself unlucky, but it was always going to be an uphill task in her opponent’s back yard, and Johnson took tallies of 98-92 and 96-94 against a 95-95 drawn scorecard.

Imam Khataev (7-0, KO7) impressed, as he stopped Ricards Bolotniks (20-8-1, KO8) in round six of their light heavyweight clash set for ten.

Joseph Goodall (11-2-1, KO10) lost in four rounds to Efe Ajagba last November, but he bounced back to form here, halting Faiga Opelu (16-5-2, KO12) in the tenth and final round of their heavyweight meeting.

Hemi Ahio (22-1, KO17) won his third straight bout since a 2022 loss to the aforementioned Opelu, and he stopped the badly-faded Lucas Browne (31-6, KO27) inside one round at heavyweight.