Insider: "We May See an Older Lomachenko"

Boxing insider and commentator Dan Rafael shared his thoughts on the match between IBO lightweight champion (up to 61.2 kg) George Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) and Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs).

"This fight is important for both guys because they are fighting for one of the titles vacated by Devin Haney. They will try to win the vacant title. The fight will take place in Australia – Kambosos' home country. It won't be in his city; it will be on the west coast of Australia, not the east, but obviously, he will be the crowd favorite. Though that doesn't mean anything. He was a big favorite in a large stadium when he fought against Devin Haney, and Devin walked through him, essentially winning every round. In my view, Lomachenko is still a top-notch fighter. I believe he has better skills than Kambosos. If George Kambosos goes forward, then, perhaps, we may see an older, slightly slower Lomachenko, maybe not as sharp as before. But even though Lomachenko is at the later stage of his career, many people think that he beat Haney. He looked good in that fight. He didn't win, but he didn't fight poorly or clearly lose, was not knocked down. I have a lot of respect for Kambosos; he always wants to fight the best guys. Lomachenko has been a special fighter for a very long time, unless something happened like an injury or something we don't know about. Generally, it's hard to say that Lomachenko won't outbox George Kambosos just as Haney did," said Rafael. The match between George Kambosos and Vasiliy Lomachenko will take place on May 12th in Perth, Australia. Besides the IBO belt held by Kambosos, the vacant IBF lightweight title will also be on the line.