Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr.

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Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr.
DateNovember 27, 2021
VenueHulu Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Teófimo López George Kambosos Jr.
Nickname The Takeover Ferocious
Hometown New York City, New York, U.S. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Pre-fight record 16–0 (12 KO) 19–0 (10 KO)
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 135 lb (61 kg) 134+2⁄5 lb (61 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion
The Ring No. 7 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
Result
Kambosos Jr. wins via 12-round split decision (115-111, 113-114, 115-112)

Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr. was a lightweight professional boxing match between unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion Teófimo López, and IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. The fight took place on November 27, 2021, at the Hulu Theater, and was broadcast live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN.[1] Kambosos won via split decision with two of the three judges scoring the contest 115–111 and 115–112 in his favor, and the other scoring it 114–113 for López.

Background[edit]

After López's upset unanimous decision victory of Ukrainian two-time Olympic champion and pound-for-pound star Vasiliy Lomachenko,[2] López was called out by Lomachenko for a rematch, which did not materialize.[3][4] He was also called out by fellow American lightweight Devin Haney, as well as by Kambosos Jr., who had beaten Lee Selby to become the mandatory challenger to López's IBF title.[5]

Relations between López and Top Rank turned sour, after Top Rank offered López $1.25 million to face Kambosos Jr., his contract minimum.[6] With López and Top Rank not coming to an agreement, the fight went to a purse bid. On February 25, Triller won the purse bid for $6 million, to stage the fight between López and Kambosos Jr.[7] On April 16, the fight was initially announced for June 5, 2021 at LoanDepot Park in Miami, with the undercard involving an exhibition bout between Kevin McBride, and former undisputed cruiserweight and undisputed heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield.[8] On May 12, the bout was rescheduled for June 19, with Holyfield vs. McBride being removed from the undercard, before once again being pushed back to August 14, due to López testing positive for COVID-19. As the Miami Marlins had a game scheduled that day at LoanDepot Park, a new venue was to be announced.[9]

Unsuccessful negotiations[edit]

More complications arose: Triller attempted to stage the fight in the challenger Kambosos' home country of Australia.[10] This proved controversial, because at the time Australia was in lockdown, which would have forced the champion López to arrive in the country at least 2 weeks beforehand and cut weight while in government-mandated isolation. The IBF took López's team's side and ruled against the move.[11] On August 15, Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh announced that he was trying to find a venue for the fight in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.[12] Over a week later, on August 23, it was announced that the fight would take place in López's home city, at the Hulu Theater in New York City on October 4, 2021.[13] It was announced on September 26 that the fight had a new date and venue of October 16 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.[14] Early October it was announced that Triller would not go ahead with the fight on October 16, 2021, after almost $10 million spent on the promotional costs and no agreement reached regarding the date change.[15][16][17]

Matchroom awarded rights[edit]

On October 6, it transpired that the IBF had found Triller in default of its contract obligation to stage the fight, and that its rights would be awarded to the second highest bidder, Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, and the fight was shown live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN.[18][19]

Fight card[edit]

Weight Class vs. Method Round Time Notes
Lightweight Australia George Kambosos Jr. def. United States Teófimo López (c) SD 12 WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring Lightweight championship.
Super Featherweight Japan Kenichi Ogawa def. South Africa Azinga Fuzile UD 12 IBF Super featherweight championship
Featherweight United States Raymond Ford def. Puerto Rico Felix Caraballo TKO 8/10 2:10 WBA Continental featherweight
Heavyweight China Zhang Zhilei def. United States Craig Lewis TKO 2/8 2:10
Super bantamweight Somalia Ramla Ali def. United States Isela Vera UD 4/4
Flyweight United States Christina Cruz def. United States Maryguenn Vellinga UD 6/6
Flyweight United States Anthony Christopher Herrera def. Mexico Jonathan Daniel Herrera Tejeda TKO 2/4 2:32 Pro debuts fight

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles[20]

Broadcasting[edit]

Country/Region Broadcaster
Free Cable TV PPV Stream
Worldwide — DAZN

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr. lightweight title fight official for November 27 in New York City | DAZN News UK". DAZN. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  2. ^ Teofimo Lopez Upsets Vasiliy Lomachenko to become Undisputed Lightweight Champion | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS, retrieved 2021-04-18
  3. ^ "Lomachenko wants rematch with Teofimo after his shoulder heals ⋆ Boxing News 24". Boxing News 24. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  4. ^ "Teofimo Lopez again refuses to give Vasyl Lomachenko a rematch | DAZN News UK". DAZN. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  5. ^ Williams, E. J. (2020-10-31). "Lee Selby Robbed Of Title Opportunity By George Kambosos Jr". 3Kings Boxing WorldWide. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  6. ^ "Report: Teofimo Lopez & Top Rank Boxing At Odds Over Pay". FIGHT SPORTS. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  7. ^ "Triller wins purse bid, $6M plus, to stage Teofimo Lopez v George Kambosos fight". The Ring. 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  8. ^ Holland, Jesse (2021-04-16). "Evander Holyfield vs Kevin McBride boxing match official for Triller PPV on June 5". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  9. ^ "Aussie George Kambosos Jr's world title fight delayed due to opponent's positive COVID test". ABC News (Australia). 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  10. ^ Christ, Scott (2021-07-09). "Triller wants to move Lopez vs Kambosos to Australia, Teofimo Lopez team says they'd vacate belt instead". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  11. ^ "IBF ends Triller's Aussie plan for Lopez-Kambosos". ESPN.com. 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  12. ^ "Lopez-Kambosos now targeted for Middle East". ESPN.com. 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  13. ^ Stumberg, Patrick L. (2021-08-23). "Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr headed to Hulu Theater on October 5". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  14. ^ Christ, Scott (2021-09-26). "Lopez vs Kambosos now officially listed for Oct. 16 in Brooklyn". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  15. ^ "Triller throws in the towel on Lopez-Kambosos bout after racking up $10M in promotional costs". sports.yahoo.com.
  16. ^ "Lopez vs Kambosos date canceled after $10 mil spent". FIGHTMAG. 3 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Triller quits on its stool after failing to deliver Lopez vs. Kambosos". The Ring. 2 October 2021.
  18. ^ "IBF awards Lopez-Kambosos bout to Matchroom". ESPN.com. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  19. ^ "Eddie Hearn confirms Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos will now be promoted by Matchroom Boxing, broadcast by DAZN | DAZN News US". DAZN. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  20. ^ "event". boxrec.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
Preceded by Teófimo López' bouts
November 27, 2021 		Succeeded by
KO7 Pedro Campa
Preceded by George Kambosos Jr's bouts
November 27, 2021 		Succeeded by
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