By Norm Frauenheim –
It’s appropriate that the lightweight division and much of boxing have been turned upside-down, which is another way of saying Down Under.
That’s what Australian George Kambosos did.
His stunning upset of Teofimo Lopez is a sign that maybe it’s time to get back under the hood. Time to take another look at boxers and the business from a different angle.
Kambosos used the word “delusional” to describe a bloodied and beaten Lopez, who asserted that he had somehow won their title fight last Saturday in New York.
Delusional, it was.
That much was evident in the boos at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater from a crowd filled with Lopez’ hometown partisans. Kambosos tried to give him a break, suggesting that maybe he was concussed in losing the 12-rounds by a split-decision also tainted by judge Don Trella’s 114-113 card in favor of Lopez.
Delusional, it is.
In the days since the upset and before a key lightweight doubleheader– Devin Haney-JoJo Diaz Saturday (DAZN, 5 pm PT/8pm ET) and Gervonta Davis-Isaac Cruz Sunday (Showtime, 5 pm/8 pm), Lopez has taken to social media, still insisting he won.
Meanwhile, he and father-trainer, Teofimo Sr., say they’re moving on, moving up to junior welterweight. But going up the scale won’t wipe away what happened last Saturday. There’s no moving beyond.
Instead of repeating the delusional double-down, how about congratulations to Kambosos? How about Lopez saying he’d like a rematch if he can make weight?
Maybe, Lopez will eventually review the video, review his conduct, and do both. Maybe, he just can’t make the weight any more. Maybe, he can wait to fight Kambosos at a heavier weight. Or at a catch weight. Maybe, maybe.
An acknowledgment that he lost, however, would be a beginning, the first step toward redemption for a good fighter who brags about being The Takeover, his nickname. More like the take-down.
Lopez is a likable kid, emphasis on kid. Whether he can grow into the great fighter he’s been projected to be, however, begins now.
His defeat is exactly the sort of adversity that transforms good young fighters into Hall of Famers. Ray Leonard wouldn’t be Sugar if not for his Montreal loss to Roberto Duran in 1980. Ali wouldn’t be Ali without his New York loss to Joe Frazier in 1971. Inherently, boxing is about overcoming, getting up off the canvas and coming back from defeat. Now, Lopez has that opportunity, but it’s up to him to see something beyond the delusional.
Lopez’ loss was surely on the minds of everybody at separate news conferences Thursday. First, there was the Davis-Cruz newser in Los Angeles for a 135-pound fight at Staples Center on pay-per-view (talk about delusional, but a story for another delusional day).
“Last Saturday, we all saw what happens when you don’t take your opponent seriously,’’ said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who promised the heavily-favored Davis is deadly serious about Cruz, a late-stand in.
Then, there was the Haney-Diaz newser in Las Vegas for the lightweight fight at MGM Grand. Kambosos, the winning face of what can happen to the delusional, was there. In an interview with UK promoter Eddie Hearn, he said was on a “scouting mission.” He’ll be at ringside for Haney-Diaz Saturday and Davis-Cruz Sunday.
He’s hoping, he says, for a fight against Haney, who apparently holds the last link to the 135-pound division’s undisputed title. Sorry, but there’s that word again, Kambosos’ word: Delusional. It’s everywhere. Boxing has no effective vaccine for it.
In beating Lopez, Kambosos took five belts, including the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) so-called “franchise’’ designation. That left only the WBC’s other lightweight belt in the hands of Haney. Apparently, the undisputed puzzle just keeps metastasizing.
Let’s just say that Kambosos is the lightweight champion. Period. Please.
In a welcome twist, the unlikely Kambosos might have finally awakened the lightweight division. When Lopez upset Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020, there was a lot of talk about a golden era at 135-pounds. It was even called Four Kings (insert the D-word here).
That, of course, was an insult to Leonard, Duran, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, the four pillars to George Kimball’s enduring book on their defining rivalry in the late 1970s and early 80s.
In Twitter time, Lopez, Davis, Haney, and Ryan Garcia suddenly became Four Successors. But time is proving them to be Four Reluctants. They’ve yet to fight each other.
Enter Kambosos, who isn’t shy about his willingness to fight any of them as soon as possible. If not Haney, then Davis. Or maybe Lomachenko, who has a chance to reclaim his place in the division on Dec. 11 against a bigger Richard Commey at Madison Square Garden.
Five days after his bruising victory over Lopez, Kambosos was still a long way from an Aussie-style celebration in hometown Sydney He was on the road looking for another fight.
He told Hearn that he’d be willing to step in if either Haney or Diaz suffered some inadvertent injury before Saturday’s opening bell.
“I’ll use the same shorts I used against Lopez,’’ Kambosos said. “They must be still full of blood.’’
Guts instead of you-know-what, too.
