The best punch trackers on the market
22nd July 2023
By: Rich Lopez
George Kambosos Aims For another Title Shot but Needs to Get Past Maxi Hughes First
Back in November of 2021, George “Ferocious” Kambosos Jr (20-2, 10 KO’s) of Sydney, Australia was on top of the lightweight division. He made his way to the top by scoring the upset of the year in 2021 by dethroning then unified and lineal lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez. It was a big upset as Kambosos was a heavy underdog and many observers felt that Lopez was going to walk right through him. After the victory over Lopez, Kambosos became the new undisputed and lineal champion at lightweight.
Then Kambosos defended his championship last year against WBC Lightweight Champion Devin Haney to become the undisputed champion. Kambosos would come up short and lost his fight against Haney. Then in their rematch, Kambosos lost again to Haney. There was no shame in the losses to Haney as he is one of the best fighters today. Looking at the career of Kambosos, he has fought tough fighters and has had most of his biggest victories on the road. Basically, Kambosos is a true road warrior.
This Saturday, July22, Kambosos makes his return to the ring and his quest is to become a world champion again. Once again, Kambosos is back on the road and fighting another tough challenger. Kambosos will be facing tough veteran Maxi “Maximus” Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KO’s) of the United Kingdom. The fight will take place at the FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma and will be televised live on ESPN. Kambosos will be making his Top Rank debut and the fight is a 12-round IBF world title eliminator. Also on the line is the IBO World Lightweight Title which is currently held by Hughes. Not only does Kambosos have another chance to earn a world title shot but Hughes is also given the opportunity as well.
Even though Kambosos has fought the better opposition than Hughes, Hughes has also defied the odds in his career. Hughes is a 13-year pro and has mainly fought on British soil. Hughes has had some ups and downs early in his career. His last lost was against Liam Walsh back in 2019 but since then Hughes has been on a roll. Since his last lost, Hughes has won seven straight victories. Most recently, Hughes is coming off a huge victory over Kid Galahad last September. In his recent victories, Hughes was the underdog but he managed to secure victories. This has resulted in Hughes becoming a highly ranked lightweight.
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This will also be an interesting fight in terms of styles with Kambosos as the pressure fighter and Hughes as the counter puncher. Kambosos is an orthodox fighter while Hughes is the southpaw fighter. Kambosos will be the favorite in the fight as he has been a former world champion and has fought the elite fighters already. However, don’t count Hughes out as he will make the most of this opportunity. Big stakes are on the line for both fighters.
In the 10-round co-feature, U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (8-0, 6 KOs) takes a seismic step up in class against Belgian contender and former European champion Francesco Patera (28-3, 10 KOs).
Kambosos-Hughes and Davis-Patera will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
The ESPN+-streamed undercard (6:15 p.m ET/3:15 p.m. PT) will feature the ring returns of welterweight contender Giovani Santillan, Oklahoma-born heavyweight Jeremiah Milton and middleweight prospect Troy Isley.
Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images
