George Kambosos Jnr
George Kambosos Jr. (Greek: Γεώργιος Καμπόσος; born 14 June 1993) is an Australian-Greek professional boxer who has held the IBF Pan Pacific lightweight title since 2017. He previously held the Australian NSW, Australian, WBA-PABA, and WBA Oceania lightweight titles between 2013 and 2017.
George Kambosos Jr. | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Ferocious |
Weight(s) | Lightweight |
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Reach | 1.73 m (68 in) |
Nationality | Australian |
Born | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 14 June 1993
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 19 |
Wins | 19 |
Wins by KO | 10 |
Losses | 0 |
Early life
Kambosos was born in Sydney, Australia to parents of Greek descent.[1] His grandparents hail from Sparta and Kambosos Jr has the famous Spartan army war cry "Never retreat, never surrender" tattooed on his body in homage to his heritage.[2] He began playing junior rugby league for the Gymea Gorillas at a young age[3] and was often bullied as a child for being overweight so his father enrolled him in boxing classes at 11 years of age to improve his fitness.[4] Kambosos quickly dropped the excess weight and was placed in the Cronulla Sharks development squad where he was coached by Ricky Stuart but found himself at a crossroad as a teenager when he was forced to choose between boxing and rugby league.[3] He elected to pursue the boxing pathway and began his fighting career by amassing 85 wins in 100 amateur fights before turning professional.[5]
Professional career
Kambosos made his professional boxing debut at the age of 19 when he faced Filipino fighter Jayson Mac Gura and was victorious via a second round technical knockout. In December 2016, he captured the WBA Oceania title by beating world number nine Brandon Ogilvie.[6][7] He then went on to face Qamil Balla in May 2017,[8] whom he defeated by unanimous decision in a ten-round fight.[9] Five months later, he knocked out Krai Setthaphon in the ninth round and won the WBA Oceania and IBF Pan Pacific titles in the lightweight division.[10] In June 2017, Kambosos was tabbed by Manny Pacquiao as his main sparring partner in preparation for the fight with Jeff Horn[11] and has remained Pacquiao's main sparring partner for his fights after Horn as well.[12] In April 2018, Kambosos signed a promotional contract with DiBella Entertainment.[13] In May 2018, he made his debut in the US[14] and knocked out Jose Forero in just 1 minute and 48 seconds.[15] On 19 January 2019, Kambosos defeated Rey Perez at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Adrien Broner via unanimous decision in his second fight on US soil.[16] On 7 June in Athens, Kambosos returned to his native land of Greece and knocked out Venezuelan 11–2 (9 KOs) Richard Pena in round six in front of the packed out Galatsi Olympic Hall. He called out former two division world champion José Pedraza after his victory. In December of 2019, Kambosos defeated former IBF lightweight champion, Mickey Bey by split decision on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas.[17] On 31 October 2020, Kambosos defeated former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby by split decision at The SSE Arena in London.[18] The win over Selby makes Kambosos the mandatory challenger for the IBF lightweight title.[19]
Kambosos vs. López
On 9 January 2021, the International Boxing Federation ordered lightweight champion Teófimo López to defend his belt against number one contender and mandatory challenger Kambosos.[20]
Professional boxing record
19 fights | 19 wins | 0 losses |
By knockout | 10 | 0 |
By decision | 9 | 0 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | Win | 19–0 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | 31 Oct 2020 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 18–0 | ![]() |
SD | 10 | 14 Dec 2019 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 17–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (10), 1:36 | 7 Jun 2019 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 16–0 | ![]() |
UD | 8 | 19 Jan 2019 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 15–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (8), 2:02 | 15 Jul 2018 | ![]() |
|
14 | Win | 14–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (10), 1:48 | 5 May 2018 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 13–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (10), 1:59 | 13 Oct 2017 | ![]() |
Retained WBA Oceania lightweight title; Won vacant IBF Pan Pacific lightweight title |
12 | Win | 12–0 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | 6 May 2017 | ![]() |
|
11 | Win | 11–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 2 Dec 2016 | ![]() |
Won WBA Oceania lightweight title |
10 | Win | 10–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 4 (12), 3:00 | 8 Jun 2016 | ![]() |
Retained WBA-PABA lightweight title |
9 | Win | 9–0 | ![]() |
KO | 4 (12), 2:34 | 12 Dec 2015 | ![]() |
Retained WBA-PABA lightweight title |
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (12), 2:59 | 4 Jul 2015 | ![]() |
Won WBA-PABA interim lightweight title |
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 31 Jan 2015 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | 29 Aug 2014 | ![]() |
Won Australian lightweight title |
5 | Win | 5–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (6), 2:30 | 9 Apr 2014 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 29 Jan 2014 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (8), 2:59 | 22 Nov 2013 | ![]() |
Won vacant NSW state lightweight title |
2 | Win | 2–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 17 Aug 2013 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (6), 2:06 | 18 May 2013 | ![]() |
References
- Dalatariof, Panagiotis (2 March 2020). "George "Ferocious" Kambosos Jr – The unbeaten Greek Australian fighter who dreams of being world champion!". greekherald.com.au.
- Kambosos Jr, George (12 September 2018). "I'm Australia's best athlete – George Kambosos Jr". greekherald.com.au.
- Dalatariof, Panagiotis (5 June 2020). "George "Ferocious" Kambosos Jr – The unbeaten Greek Australian fighter who dreams of being world champion!". theaustralian.com.au.
- Santoliquito, Joseph (27 October 2020). "George Kambosos Jr. overcame bullying and scorn to reach prime time against Lee Selby". ringtv.com.
- Cocks, Anthony (15 August 2017). "Kambosos Jr. targets world top five". boxingmonthly.com.
- Parkinson, Andrew (29 November 2016). "George Kambosos Jnr ready for Luna Park rumble". theleader.com.au.
- Hamilton-Irvine, Gary (5 December 2016). "Boxing: Kambosos Jnr beats Ogilvie, remains undefeated". theleader.com.au.
- Schelle, Caroline (1 May 2017). "Qamil Balla targets lightweight champ George Kambosos Jr". heraldsun.com.au.
- Parkinson, Andrew (8 May 2017). "George 12-0 after big victory". theleader.com.au.
- "George "Ferocious" Kambosos 9th round TKO of Krai Setthaphon in Melbourne Highlights". supernewsworld.com.
- "Pacquiao spars with Aussie who fights like Horn". news.abs-cbn.com.
- "LOOK: Pacquiao begins hard sparring for Adrien Broner fight". news.abs-cbn.com.
- "George Kambosos Jr. signs with Dibella". BoxingNews24.com. 11 April 2018.
- "George Kambosos Ready To Make a Big Splash in United States". BoxingScene.com.
- "George Kambosos Jr Picks Up Win by KO over Jose Forero – BoxingSocialist". boxingsocialist.com.
- "Kambosos, Pacquiao Sparring Partner, Easily Out-Boxes Perez". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- https://www.foxsports.com.au/boxing/george-kambosos-jr-defeats-mickey-bey-in-biggest-test-of-his-career/news-story/17e488bee0ddb5b4fd9fcf635acb4bef
- https://wwos.nine.com.au/news/boxing-george-kambosos-lee-selby-fight-result-ibf-lightweight-world-title-eliminator/285432f8-065f-4fe6-95b3-a1ea7e203d8a
- https://www.boxingscene.com/george-kambosos-gets-split-nod-over-lee-selby-results--152906
- "IBF orders lightweight world title fight between Aussie George Kambosos Jnr and Teofimo Lopez Jnr". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2021.