George Kambosos Jr says he’s got the hunger to become a two-time lightweight champion, and he plans on looking to achieve that goal in 2023.
The former unified lightweight champion will be fighting in April or May against a former world champ in a fight that could take place in Sydney.
Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs) is healing up from his two fights with Devin Haney in 2022, and he says he’s now ready to get back in there. He’d like to fight Vasyl Lomachenko at some point, as he thinks that would be a big fight in Australia.
Kambosos deserves a lot of credit for taking on Haney after defeating Teofimo Lopez to become the IBF, WBA, WBC Franchise & WBO lightweight champion. He could have milked his titles by facing weak opposition, but instead, he chose to face Haney.
If Kambosos can pick up two or three solid wins in 2023, he could be given the comeback fighter of the year award because a lot of fans have given up on him after his consecutive losses to Haney in 2022.
“The hunger is still there to be the best that I can be. There were a lot of options for me to have easy fights, but as a true warrior, I took the hard fight against Devin Haney,” said George Kambosos Jr to Fighthype.
“I feel like I learned more from those two fights than any win I had in my career. I’m very excited about 2023 because doing 24 rounds with Haney alone and continue to be a better fighter and a true warrior. Defeat isn’t the worst thing in the world. ‘As soon as a fighter loses, he’s done. He’s finished.’
“Who did he lose to? He didn’t lose to a guy that was cherry-picked. He lost to a top 10, top 5 fighter. I’ve learned a lot. Haney is a very lightweight. As Lomachenko said, he’s a heavyweight.
“I’m very hungry to continue to achieve more, and I know I will be a two-time world champion. No disrespect to Lomachenko, but regardless of what’s going to happen in that fight [with Haney], I’d still want to grace the ring with Lomachenko, regardless of how much older he’s getting or how he’s looking.
“It’s a fight that was nearly done when I had all the belts. So, I’d love to do that fight, and maybe do a big stadium fight here in Australia. He’s a big name here. I’m a big name, he’s a big name. Obviously, we can fill that stadium big time.
“I believe that Haney is too sharp, too big, too rangy, the reach, the movement, the defense he has. He’s becoming a better and better fighter, and we saw it when we clashed a second time.
“I got better in the second fight, regardless of what people say. I showed more, I tried different things, but he got better as well. He became a sharper fighter, a more precise fighter. He was throwing that nice right hand as well. That caught me sometimes,” said Kambosos.
