George “Ferocious” Kambosos has risen from humble beginnings to the precipice of being crowned undisputed lightweight champion of the world, with boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao playing a big role.
For years, the heavily tattooed Australian, 28, has labored for recognition, but all that could change on Sunday in Melbourne if he wins his showdown against American Devin Haney, with the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC belts all on the line.
After a stellar amateur career spanning more than 100 fights, Kambosos successfully moved up to the professional ranks as a teenager and now boasts a 20-0 record, with 10 knock-outs.
Photo: AFP
However, it took a lucky break in 2017 to help set him on the road to his blockbuster moment this weekend.
Little-known, he was at Freddie Roach’s famed gym in Los Angeles when the legendary trainer thought he would make a good sparring partner for Pacquiao ahead of his WBO welterweight bout against Jeff Horn in Brisbane.
Pacquiao stunningly lost to Horn, but the Filipino and Kambosos struck up a friendship and the Australian helped him prepare for two more title fights, clocking up more than 250 rounds with the 12-time world champion.
Kambosos said that the experience helped forge him into who he is today.
“Back then he said to me that I’d become world champion and hearing that from an all-time great, hearing that from a guy like Manny Pacquiao, that gave me that extra boost,” Kambosos told reporters.
Pacquiao, who retired from boxing last year and unsuccessfully ran for the Philippines presidency last month, said he knew from their first meeting that Kambosos could go all the way.
“He wanted to be the best and he treated his sparring sessions with me as part of his education,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I never saw the same fighter twice. He was more than a sparring partner, he was a training partner. George worked harder than anyone in the camp, I think that is why we got along so well.”
Born in southern Sydney to parents of Greek descent, Kambosos was often bullied as a child for being overweight, which led to his father enrolling him in boxing classes to improve his fitness.
He lost the excess weight and fell in love with the sport.
After rising through the ranks as an amateur, he took the plunge to become professional and won his first bout in front of his home fans in Sydney in 2013.
To further his career, he and his team based themselves in the US, a move that led to the relationship with Pacquiao.
Defeating Lee Selby in London in 2020 made him the mandatory challenger for the IBF lightweight title, which ultimately earned the Australian a crack at WBA, IBF and WBO champion Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden in November last year.
Kambosos grabbed his chance in a bloody battle, catapulting himself into the big time by upsetting the American in a stunning split-decision victory as a heavy underdog to win all three belts.
“Everything in my career I’ve had to earn. I’ve had to work hard, extremely hard to get to this position,” Kambosos said ahead of Sunday’s bout against Haney, who is the WBC lightweight titleholder and undefeated in 27 fights. “I’ve never really been given something or opportunities, I’ve always worked hard to earn them. And that’s how I love it to be.”
That work has put Kambosos on the brink of his greatest achievement, with more than 50,000 people expected to pack Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium to see if he can become one of Australia’s greatest boxers.
Japan is the home of judo, but a brutal win-at-all-costs mentality, corporal punishment and pressure to lose weight are driving large numbers of children to quit, raising fears for the sport’s future in its traditional powerhouse. Underlining the scale of the problem, the All Japan Judo Federation canceled a prestigious nationwide tournament for children as young as 10, saying that they were being pushed too hard. A group dedicated to those injured or killed while practicing the martial art says 121 judo-related deaths were reported in Japanese schools between 1983 and 2016. Japan dominates the Olympics judo medal table, but federation president Yasuhiro
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim on Tuesday praised US professional basketball player Enes Kanter Freedom for his advocacy of human rights. “An honor to meet @EnesFreedom, with admiration for his courage and commitment in advocating human rights,” Hsiao wrote in a post on Twitter that included a photograph of her posing with Freedom. “Looking forward to welcoming him to Taiwan in the future.” Hsiao did not give any information about her meeting with Freedom, who is currently a free agent. However, Legislator Hung Sun-han wrote on Facebook that Hsiao had invited Freedom to dinner at Twin Oaks, the former residence of Taiwan’s
RE-EVALUATION: ‘I hope that everyone is able to compete and as long as they are finding a way to do that then I am happy,’ US swimmer Alex Walsh said of the policy Swimming is to establish an “open category” to allow transgender athletes to compete as part of a new policy that would effectively ban them from women’s races. “I do not want any athlete to be told they cannot compete at the highest level,” Husain al-Musallam, president of governing body FINA, told an extraordinary congress of his organization. “I understand why transgender athletes want to compete in the gender of their choice ... but we should not favor one athlete over another,” he said. “I will set up a working group that will establish an open category at some of our biggest events.” He
World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev on Thursday lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals of the Mallorca Open, while second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the last four. Medvedev was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Bautista Agut, who avenged his defeat by the Russian in last week’s quarter-finals in Halle, Germany. “I had to play very good to beat Daniil. He’s the number one, the last champion here in Mallorca. He just beat me a few days ago. I played a really complete match,” Bautista Agut said. Bautista Agut broke Medvedev once in the first set and twice in the second as he
RSS