George Kambosos Jr. stuns Teofimo Lopez for lightweight crown (Video)

Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr. finally came together in New York, but few other than Kambosos’ camp could foresee the final result. 

George Kambosos Jr. is now the WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight boxing champion of the world. He dethroned Teofimo Lopez on Saturday, Nov. 27. in front of his birthplace crowd in New York at The Theater in Madison Square Garden.

Even though Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) is undefeated, he was a massive underdog. The Australian came on the road in front of a hostile crowd and took it to the now-former lightweight champion of the world.

Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) was dropped by Kambosos in the final 16 seconds of round 1. That set the tone of the fight. Kambosos took the fight to Lopez and kept pressing forward.

George Kambosos Jr. shocked fans at The Theater in Madison Square Garden by defeating Teofimo Lopez to become lightweight champion

Lopez was always a live threat in the contest, and he started to take over the second half of the battle. He owned rounds 8-10 and knocked down Kambosos in round 10. Kambosos looked to have weak knees, but he survived the round and fought on.

Lopez possibly winded himself going for the KO in round 10 and was outworked in the championship rounds. A bad cut opened up over Lopez’s left eye in round 11, but the doctor allowed the fight to continue.

Lopez vs. Kambosos went the full 12 rounds, and the judges returned scores of 114-113 for Lopez and 115-111 and 115-112 for Kambosos, giving Kambosos the split decision victory. He’s now the majority lightweight titleholder.

Lopez and Kambosos were supposed to fight long ago, but drama with Triller caused numerous cancellations, and eventually, they dropped the fight altogether. Matchroom picked up the bid and may have staged the 2021 Fight and Upset of the Year.

Let’s hope the rematch is just as good!