By: Sean Crose

it wasn’t all that long ago when George Kambos defeated Teofimo Lopez via shocking upset to become a lightweight titlist. Lopez after all was fresh off of winning against the great Vasyl lomachenko. When Kambosos dropped Lopez in the first the boxing world was instantly shook. The fact that Lopez was unable to come back and win against underdog Kambosos was proof that there was a new lightweight king. Kambosos that night showed that he could hang with even the hardest hitters and box magnificently at the same time. Again, it was truly a stunning underdog performance.

Unfortunately for Kambosos things haven’t gone that well since then. In the following years he lost twice to chess master Devin Haley and also lost to Lomachenko. While he came back this past winter to defeat Jake Willey, Kambosos will have a lot riding on the line tomorrow night when he faces Richardson Hitchens at Madison Square Garden for the IBF world lightweight title. Defending champion Hitchens is both younger than Kambosos and undefeated as well. This may be a battle between skills, youthful confidence, and experience…hard earned expense. Kamboso’s has had a lot of experience in his career. Will that be enough to halt the rising Hitchens in his tracks, though?

Things have already gotten tense. Kambosos took the opportunity to slap Hitchens during the weigh-in on Thursday . Perhaps his nerves got the better off him. Or perhaps he was simply showing bad behavior. People aren’t allowed to slap other people on the street after all. They shouldn’t be able to do it in front of the press. With that being said, it’s hard to imagine Kambosos’ career being anything but stagnant if he loses. This really is, arguably at least, a make or break fight for Kambosos. Hitchens has the lot riding on this fight himself of course, but losing to a former world titleist with lots of experience isn’t the same as being a former world titleist who is defeated by a rising star. That sad story has been told too many times to count.

It’s a long way from Kambosos native Australia to New York City. No doubt, he’s hoping the trip is worth it. There are many, if not most, who doubt he can beat Hitchens. The same thing was said however, before he faced the impressive Lopez. And we all know how that turned out. Can history repeat itself? Or is Kambosos going the way of so many former titlists before him?