Boxing
George Kambosos Jr. says he will expose Lee Selby and then lure Teofimo Lopez Jr. to Australia
George Kambosos Jr. continued his relentless verbal attack of Lee Selby ahead of their final eliminator for the IBF lightweight championship on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The two men, who were set to headline a show in Selby's native Wales at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena until the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to those plans, do battle beneath Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora at the SSE Arena, Wembley.
Australia's Kambosos Jr. (18-0, 10 KOs) had promised to force Selby (28-2, 9 KOs) to retire in front of his family and home country fans before the postponement, and has continued the tough talk ever since.
"This is a huge fight, a title eliminator," the undefeated fighter said via Zoom on Tuesday. "We all know what awaits after this. For me, it’s huge to challenge a world champion.
"There are a lot of holes in Selby’s game and we’re gonna expose every one of them. I’m not gonna reveal what my plan is, but it’s gonna be a painful lesson for Selby. There’s no ifs or buts, we’re winning this fight.
"Selby is done and dusted. I don’t know how many people want to tune in to watch him. But I can’t wait any longer to do this. I’d jump in there and fight Selby today."
Of the much-discussed occasions when the two sparred against one another back in 2017, Kambosos Jr. said there was nothing about his rival at all.
"He likes to tap and run, and move," he said. "There was nothing there, nothing special. It was a long time ago, as well. I’m in my prime now. I’m fighting better than ever. And his last two fights were terrible fights, boring fights. There’s no interest for Lee Selby from his own fans."
The IBF lightweight title is currently held by Teofimo Lopez Jr., who holds all the cards in the division after his impressive unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko in Las Vegas.
That fight, regarded as many as the biggest of a pandemic-ravaged 2020, had just 250 spectators inside the "bubble" whereas Australia is far closer to normality with their own handling of the coronavirus.
Kambosos Jr. would love to take advantage of that by dangling the carrot of a huge paid gate in front of Bob Arum and Top Rank to bring Lopez Jr. "Down Under" for a title defense, if Selby is indeed conquered on Saturday.
"60, 70 thousand in a stadium in Australia," said Kambosos Jr. "Does it not make sense? It makes perfect sense to me.
"I’m a Sydney boy, and a stadium fight in Sydney for the world title would be amazing.
"After this, I’ll be mandatory, and it’ll be a unified title fight. Lopez is looking at me. Devin Haney is mentioned, but if Lopez comes to Australia we’ll get 60, 70 thousand in the stadium."
Meanwhile, Selby appeared in an interview of his own via Zoom, and claimed Kambosos Jr. was nothing special when the two did some rounds together three years ago.
"When I watched him spar someone else he looked very good," said the Welshman. "When I got in there with him though, I was picking him off whenever he came in.
"Nothing really stood out about him. I can’t really remember, so he couldn’t have been that good!"
Selby did admit that Kambosos Jr. appears to be a better fighter now, but that he still hasn't done much at a high level.
He said: "If you go through his list of opponents on BoxRec, they’re not really elite except for Mickey Bey in his last fight, a former world champion.
"He’s a good fighter, fast hands, very confident. He’s not big, really. Ricky Burns was bigger. His main attribute is that hand speed. He’s very fast and very aggressive. It’ll probably go all 12 rounds.
"I’ll neutralize him by outboxing him, making him miss. It’s that simple."
The former IBF featherweight champ also criticized Kambosos Jr.'s verbal attacks, saying: "A lot of what he has said was uncalled for.
"It’s not like he’s trying to sell the fight. He’s just talking rubbish. We don’t have any fans coming in, and the main sell on Box Office is Usyk and Chisora, so he’s not saying all this just to sell the fight."
Selby vs. Kambosos Jr. takes place on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora, which airs live Oct. 31 on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. and DAZN in all nine DAZN markets including the U.S.
