Vasyl Lomachenko proved, once and for all, he is not a boxer to be taken lightly! Facing George Kambosos Jr. in his home turf of Australia, the Ukrainian lightweight legend defeated Kambosos in the eleventh round by a knockout to win the IBF lightweight title on Sunday. And now, the whole boxing world seems to have come together to celebrate his win! But they aren’t alone!
Even American actress and Oscar nominee Rosie Perez, was among the people cheering for the Ukrainian, as he dominated the entire fight before dropping Kambosos twice in the eleventh. In addition, heavy hitters like Claressa Shields, Teddy Atlas, and Danny Garcia took to X, congratulating the southpaw.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr.: A fight people will remember
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Going into the fight, there were questions about Lomachenko’s age, but the fight served as undeniable evidence that despite what people say, ‘Loma’ (36) will continue his dominance for a long time. Right from the onset, the Ukrainian was on top of his game, managing the distance while keeping Kambosos on his toes.
5/11 ESPN- Loma KO 11 Kambosos. Dominant performance by Loma, who landed 50% of his power punches, while limiting Kambosos to 40 landed punches & a connect pct. of 11%. pic.twitter.com/QEmYiQGjYw
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) May 12, 2024
However, ‘Ferocious’ is a fighter through and through, who landed some great body shots in round three, attempting to make a comeback. Despite that, Lomachenko came back even stronger in the fourth, something Compubox stats reveal easily. While Lomachenko landed 21 of his 46 punches in the fourth, Kambosos could not replicate the same with just one punch landed out of 30. The same sort of showing continued for the rest of the rounds until ‘Loma’ was announced the victor and people took to X.
‘Loma’ goes from ‘Mechanic’ to ‘Professor’
Observing the unfolding skirmish, Shields penned her reaction, encapsulating her disbelief at Loma’s precision in the fourth round of the fight! Interestingly, the fourth round was the worst for Kambosos.
Oh shit! Loma landing damn near every punch round 4! Sheesh @trboxing #LomaKambosos
— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) May 12, 2024
With palpable excitement, Rosie Perez enthusiastically recounted the thrilling moment, highlighting Loma’s impactful body shot that resulted in another knockdown, culminating in the opponent’s corner throwing in the towel.
Did you see that body by Loma!!
Omg he dropped him again! The corner throws in the towel! @espn @trboxing @DiBellaEnt #LomaKambosos— Rosie Perez (@rosieperezbklyn) May 12, 2024
Teddy Atlas, the old pro trainer, used to call Loma a “Mechanic” in the ring, but now he’s switched gears and calls him a “Professor.” Seems like he’s noticing a change from just being technically skilled to being more of a brainy strategist in there. Shows how Vasyl Lomachenko brought some serious smarts to the fight against Kambosos.
I’ve called Loma the ‘Mechanic’ in past, tonight he’s simply the ‘Professor’. Class is in. #LomaKambosos
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) May 12, 2024
Former two division champion Danny Garcia commended Lomachenko’s performance, gave props to Lomachenko’s performance, basically saying age ain’t nothing but a number in boxing nowadays. He reckons at 36, Loma’s still got plenty left in the tank.
Congrats Loma. 36 is not old in boxing these days. The match making is more even and they don’t let fighters take punishment anymore. Age ain’t nothing but a number.
— Danny 'Swift' Garcia (@DannySwift) May 12, 2024
Regis Prograis also joined in to acknowledge Lomachenko’s complete control in the fight. He mentioned that Kambosos struggled to keep up with Lomachenko’s movement. Looks like Loma’s footwork left quite an impression on him too.
Kambosos can’t deal with the movement of Lomachenko
— Rougarou (@RPrograis) May 12, 2024
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Tony Jeffries, Olympic bronze medalist and former pro boxer, broke down the fight with some serious efficiency. He pointed out how Loma completely shut down George’s offense by using his footwork and counter punches like nobody’s business. George couldn’t even get a punch in edgewise. It’s like Loma stripped away every ounce of George’s confidence. And Jeffries didn’t hold back, calling Loma the best fighter he’s ever seen, well, he’s pretty sure, at least.
The way Loma took away George’s
offense by using his footwork and counter punches is like nothing I’ve ever seen.It prevented George from throwing.
Total removed any confidence .
The best fighter I’ve ever seen… I think #LomaKambosos
— Tony Jeffries OLY (@Tony_Jeffries) May 12, 2024
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With praise from nearly every big name in the industry, Vasyl Lomachenko has managed to make a huge comeback after last year’s loss to Devin Haney. However, the question now is, what’s next for Lomachenko? A rematch with Haney? What do you think?