In front of a shocked crowd at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, George Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) pulled off the shocker of all shockers, travelling into enemy territory to take the WBA, IBF, WBC (franchise), and WBO belts away from Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) in a thrilling split decision. The Greek Australian scored a knockdown in the first round, survived a knockdown in the tenth round, and outboxed and beat up Lopez more than Teofimo beat up Kambosos. It was a thrilling battle that no one could have predicted (well maybe Kambosos and his team), and against all chances, a new unified lightweight champion of the world at 135 pounds has emerged. George Kabosos has made history!
The moment of glory for George Kambosos Jr. 🤩#LópezKambososJr pic.twitter.com/Q5DwQ36wzD
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 28, 2021
This is the first time a Greek Australian has ever been named lightweight boxing champion. Kambosos was born in Sydney, Australia to parents of Greek descent. He has Spartan roots! His paternal grandparents moved from Sparta to Australia and Kambosos has the famous Spartan army war cry “Never retreat, never surrender” tattooed on his body in homage to his heritage. Historic times for Greek Australians and the world of boxing. In some betting syndicates, Kambosos was as much as a +800 underdog, while Lopez was -900 and higher. On paper, this wasn’t intended to be a competitive situation. It was meant to be just like any other obligatory championship defence. It became a nightmare for Lopez and a dream come true for George Kabosos! The first ever Greek champ of Boxing!
