Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos fight prediction, odds, start

After George Kambosos shocked the boxing world with his November 2021 win over Teofimo Lopez to become unified lightweight champion, it was expected his first title defense would come against multi-division former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine left Lomachenko unable to take the fight and Kambosos would go on to lose his titles to Devin Haney. On Saturday night, Kambosos and Lomachenko will finally meet with the vacant IBF lightweight title on the line.

Lomachenko began his professional career after being one of the best amateur boxers of his era, claiming a 396-1 record and twice winning Olympic gold. He would win his first world title in just his third professional fight, defeating Gary Russell Jr. to capture the WBO featherweight title.

By his seventh fight, Lomachenko had moved up to junior lightweight to win the WBO title and earned the WBA lightweight title in just his 11th pro bout.

Following his stoppage win over Jorge Linares, Lomachenko defeated WBO champion Jose Pedraza to unify the titles. Two fights later, a win over Luke Campbell added the WBC title to Lomachenko’s collection.

Lomachenko was elevated to WBC “franchise champion” ahead of his fight with Teofimo Lopez, causing some confusion when the then-IBF champion Lopez defeated him in October 2020. The WBC had said their franchise championship was non-transferrable and Haney had been made WBC world champion, so Lopez was not technically undisputed champion.

Enter Kambosos, who was given his shot at Lopez as the IBF mandatory challenger. Following a bizarre build to the fight, which saw upstart Triller win the purse bid only to delay the contest and eventually default on their obligations, the Aussie managed to get in Lopez’s head with his trash talk and antics. Kambosos, who was nearly a +600 underdog entering the fight, scored an early knockdown en route to a deserved split-decision…