By SeanJones: George ‘The Emperor’ Kambosos Jr weighed in at 134.6 kilos, and his opponent Maxi Hughes got here in at 134.7 kilos at Friday’s weigh-in for his or her IBF light-weight title eliminator at Firelake Area in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
(Picture credit score: Mikey Williams/Prime Rank through Getty Photos)
In chief help weights, light-weight Keyshawn Davies weighed in at 134.3 kilos, whereas his opponent Francesco Patera got here in at 134.
The Kambosos-Hughes & Keyshawn – Patera occasion airs on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET this Saturday, July 22.
Kambosos’ reputation plummeted within the boxing world following his back-to-back losses to Devin Haney in 2022.
It isn’t simply the truth that 30-year-old Kambosos misplaced to Haney; it is how he was taken to high school by the younger fighter, trying nothing like a champion and extra like a fringe stage contender.
Full weights for Saturday on ESPN
George Kambosos Jr 134.6 v Maxi Hughes 134.7
Keyshawn Davis 134.3 vs. Francesco Patera 134
Giovani Santillan 147.8 v Erick Bone 147.6
Jérémie Milton 255.3 towards Willie Harvey 296.5
Troy Isley 158.8 vs. Antonio Todd 159.2
Amron Sands 300 vs. Hemi Ahio 247
Stephan Shaw 244 vs. Joseph Goodall 238
That is the right alternative for Kambosos Jr to line as much as struggle for the IBF title as soon as Haney leaves it to go as much as 140, which is what he ought to do for his subsequent struggle.
Prime Rank has put Kambosos ready the place he can compete for the IBF 135-pound title, and all he has to do is defeat Hughes.
Kambosos centered on Hughes
“I am nonetheless on the prime of the leaderboard as a result of I solely misplaced to the man who’s #1, the man (Devin Haney) who has all of the belts,” Kambosos Jr informed Combat Hub TV when requested the place he sees himself within the light-weight division panorama.
“My motivation now could be Maxi Hughes. I need to be champion once more at 135, and from there we’ll see. Proper now I solely have one factor on my thoughts,” stated Kambosos Jr.
What are Kambosos’ probabilities of turning into champions once more? You must say they’re no good, as a result of even when he beats Hughes in Saturday’s IBF light-weight title playoff, he’ll nonetheless must beat considered one of these guys to clinch the belt as soon as Haney leaves:
1. Gustave Lemos
2. Not Rated
3. Vasily Lomachenko
4. Shakur Stevenson
5.Isaac Cruz
6. Frank Martin
7. Guillaume Zepeda
“There may be a number of motivation for what’s going to occur and what can occur, however proper now there’s a man standing in the best way of that. So I’ve to knock this man down like a domino, take him out and transfer on,” Kambosos Jr stated.
“I am nonetheless a really huge title, nonetheless a really huge presence, and it’ll all be proven on Saturday once I get that huge win, that huge win, that I make an emphatic assertion, after which we transfer on,” Kambosos Jr stated.
It’s true that Kambosos Jr is now nicely often known as a former unified light-weight champion, however he isn’t thought-about a gifted fighter and he has most likely misplaced as much as 15 of the contenders within the weight class.
“The Emperor” able to win a belt
“The light-weight division remains to be as sizzling as any division on this planet, however I feel there’s going to be much more openings,” Kambosos Jr. stated.
“It was a really shut struggle,” Kambosos stated in the course of the Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko contest. “The best way I noticed it and the best way others noticed it’s their opinion. It is boxing, and generally in shut fight you possibly can see it with totally different eyes.
“Devin remained the champion and bought all of the belts. He now strikes on, and Lomachenko, he’ll transfer on. He’ll transfer on to a giant struggle and a giant title. We’ll see what he does, and we’ll see what Devin does.
“We should not sit right here and say shut fight is theft. It was an in depth struggle. The best way you noticed the struggle, the best way you noticed what pictures have been touchdown, and also you had an aggressor and good physique early. You could have a man (Lomachenko) making an attempt to shut the struggle.
“It was a very good struggle. I used to be honored to be there at ringside, watching the struggle and its historical past. We’re centered proper now on our plans now,” Kambosos stated.
