Top Rank has officially announced that former unified lightweight champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr will square off for the vacant IBF title on May 11th in Perth, Australia.
That’s May 11th stateside, by the by, May 12th local time.
Both men are coming off of controversial decisions, with Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KO) dropping a razor-thin UD to Devin Haney last May and Kambosos (21-2, 10 KO) taking what could charitably be called a questionable UD over Maxi Hughes the following July.
The field is very much set for Lomachenko to have another go at becoming undisputed, with Top Rank stablemate Shakur Stevenson holding the WBC belt and Emanuel Navarrete in position to potentially claim the WBO belt against Denys Berinchyk. “Hi-Tech” will be heavily favored here, but Kambosos has a knack for winning fights he should have lost.
The press release calls this a title tripleheader but neglects to reveal the supporting cast. Julius Julianis claims one of them will see Nina Hughes (6-0, 2 KO) defend her WBA bantamweight title against local favorite Cherneka Johnson (15-2, 6 KO), who fell short in a solid scrap with Ellie Scotney last June. Past experience would indicate a Moloney brother in the other, but Jason may or may not be ready after slugging it out with Saul Sanchez earlier this month and Andrew isn’t a mandatory challenger.