With lightweight stars Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney perhaps ambitiously dubbed boxing’s new ‘Four Kings’, George Kambosos Jr. insists he is ready to infiltrate the throne room and seize the undisputed crown.
IBF No.1 contender Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs) is set to meet Lopez in a mandatory engagement, tentatively scheduled for May in Australia, but has been widely overlooked as the rivalry between America’s four unbeaten 135-pounders continues to marinate ahead of a potentially fascinating round robin of clashes.
Yet Australian Kambosos is adamant he won’t be stepping aside and will soon wrest the lightweight titles from Lopez’s grasp after the Honduran American’s big breakthrough win against pound-for-pound No.1 Vasiliy Lomachenko last October.
“If you don’t want to fight me – vacate the belt,” a bullish Kambosos told Ray Wheatley of Fightnews. “[Lopez] said he put an offer out. Bob Arum said he has no authority to send out contracts. Myself and Devin Haney have received nothing. We are hoping it will be all done in a couple of weeks and we’ll have a date for Kambosos vs Lopez. We should have it done by February 6 which is the deadline the IBF ordered.
“I am in a fantastic position. I am the mandatory to Lopez. Mandatory is now my favourite word. I beat Lee Selby in his backyard to become mandatory. I beat Micky Bey in his hometown also. No other lightweight is doing that. Garcia, Haney, Davis and Lopez are American boys, so obviously they are going to promote their guys. No other lightweight in the world has been going into the other fighter’s backyard and doing what we have been doing – beating these former world champs.
“Beating Lopez will not only make me the IBF champion but the WBO, WBC and WBA Super champion. All this hard work has made it possible. I will show that Australian fighters can mix it up and beat the best in the world!”