Undisputed World Boxing Champion George Kambosos has landed in Australia, arriving on a United Airlines flight this morning at Terminal 1 of Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.
Kambosos was welcomed by a throng of fans cheering him with Greek and Australian flags as he made it through the gates
"I am the face of Australian boxing! These belts are not only my belts but the whole of Australia’s belts, the whole of Greece’s belts. My family, my friends, everyone here - these are their belts as well. As much as I had to go do it inside the ropes, my family and my friends and both countries lifted me up, especially in that round 10.” proclaimed the world champ to the eager mainstream media pack at his feet, which for years had ignored him.
But today, after a win that had Americans giving him a standing ovation both literally and metaphorically, Australian media can no longer ignore Kambosos, because not only is he a big news item, thanks to him the eyes of the entire world are now turned to Australia.
Plans for his next fight, most likely in April or May as reported in our exclusive video talking to George's father Jim.
Kambosos has not fought on Australian soil since October 2017, having chosen to shift his operations to the United States in pursuit of the very dream he turned into a reality almost a fortnight ago with his massive split-decision victory over Lopez.
He dropped a big hint in one of his final US interviews before stepping on the plane to Sydney, telling the Joe Rogan Experience podcast he was already dreaming of fighting in front of 80,000 people at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne - home to the world’s biggest Greek population outside the homeland.
After his impromptu briefing to the press, Kambosos then took pictures with fans, including many children who were in awe of the Greek Australian champion.
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Greek City Times live-streamed the full homecoming at Sydney airport.
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.facebook.com/greekcitytimes/videos/653369396037895/
RESOURCE | ABOUT GEORGE KAMBOSOS Jnr
George Kambosos Jr. (born 14 June 1993) is an Australian professional boxer who has held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles since November 2021.
Kambosos was born in Sydney, Australia to parents of Greek descent.
His paternal grandparents moved from Sparta to Australia and Kambosos has the famous Spartan war cry “Never retreat, never surrender” tattooed on his body in homage to his heritage.
He began playing junior rugby league for the Gymea Gorillas at a young age[4] and was often bullied as a child for being overweight so his father enrolled him in boxing classes at 11 years of age to improve his fitness.
Kambosos quickly dropped the excess weight and was placed in the Cronulla Sharks development squad where he was coached by Ricky Stuart but found himself at a crossroads as a teenager when he was forced to choose between boxing and rugby league. He elected to pursue the boxing pathway and began his fighting career by amassing 85 wins in 100 amateur fights before turning professional.
Kambosos made his professional boxing debut in May 2013, at the age of 19, when he faced Filipino fighter Jayson Mac Gura and was victorious via a second-round technical knockout. In December 2016, he captured the WBA Oceania title by beating world number nine Brandon Ogilvie.
He then went on to face Qamil Balla in May 2017,[9] whom he defeated by unanimous decision in a ten-round fight.[10] Five months later, he knocked out Krai Setthaphon in the ninth round and won the WBA Oceania and IBF Pan Pacific titles in the lightweight division.[11] In June 2017, Kambosos was tabbed by Manny Pacquiao as his main sparring partner in preparation for the fight with Jeff Horn and has remained Pacquiao’s main sparring partner for his fights after Horn as well. In April 2018, Kambosos signed a promotional contract with DiBella Entertainment. In May 2018, he made his debut in the US[15] and knocked out Jose Forero in just 1 minute and 48 seconds.[16] On 19 January 2019, Kambosos defeated Rey Perez at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Adrien Broner via unanimous decision in his second fight on US soil.[17] On 7 June in Athens, Kambosos returned to his native land of Greece and knocked out Venezuelan 11–2 (9 KOs) Richard Pena in round six in front of the packed-out Galatsi Olympic Hall. He called out former two-division world champion José Pedraza after his victory.
On 9 January 2021, the IBF ordered undefeated unified lightweight champion Teófimo López to defend his titles against Kambosos, their number one contender and mandatory challenger.
The fight was initially set for 5 June 2021 at the Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida, before being postponed multiple times, due to complications involving López contracting COVID-19, and disputes over the venue of the fight. The fight had gone to purse bids which were won by Triller with a winning bid of over US$6 million. However, on 6 October, it transpired that the IBF had found Triller in default of its contractual obligation to stage the fight and that its rights would be awarded to the second-highest bidder, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, and the fight was shown live exclusively on the streaming service DAZN.
Kambosos won the bout via split decision to become the new unified lightweight world champion. One judge had it 114–113 for López, while the other two judges scored the bout 115–112 and 115–111 in favour of Kambosos.
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