By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
IBF #2 lightweight George Kambosos (18-0, 10 KOs) talks to Fightnews.com® about his upcoming IBF elimination bout with former IBF super featherweight champion Lee Selby (28-2, 9 KOs) on May 9 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
“I am in camp in Miami,” Kambosos said. “Straight after the Mickey Bey fight, the IBF made Lee Selby and me the IBF eliminator. I was super excited. Straight away I said yes – we are in. We jumped at that fight. Pretty much 3 or 4 days after the Mickey Bey fight.
“I am super fit and have done a little bit of sparring back in Australia. I’ll be sparring in Miami with WBO #2 Emanuel Tagoe, the South African Chris Van Heerden, and also several other world class boxers. We have a fantastic world class camp here and that’s something Selby doesn’t have.
“I have had a good look at Selby and he cannot crack an egg. That shows in his 9 KOs. If he thinks he is going to hurt me – I am going to smile and laugh at him. Skills wise – he is a pretty boring fighter. I am glad the fight is in Wales. I am going to make him retire in front of his home crowd. That last hurrah of retirement in his hometown. So I hope he comes to fight in front of his own people to make an exciting fight before I put him away.
“He mentioned he fought two Australian fighters. I am a very proud Australian fighter who represents two flags. I am a different level to the Joel Brunker and Corey McConnell. If he thinks that I am on that level – he is going to be seriously hurt in front of his own people.
“As a sixteen-year-old, I was sparring Joel Brunker when he was preparing for Selby and the punishment I gave him would have made the fight easier for Selby. The fight will be on live on DAZN and Sky Sports also Fox Sports so it should be live in Australia.
“There is so much on the line for this fight. The winner of Lomanchenko vs. Lopez will fight the winner of Kambosos vs. Selby. My full focus is Lee Selby and we are going to shock a lot of people with our performance. This is not going to a points decision. I am going to KO Selby.
“The 250 rounds sparring with Manny Pacquiao in three training camps has prepared me well for Selby. Trading leather with Manny Pacquiao has prepared me for big fights. Bob Arum has expressed we could see the Lomanchenko vs. Kambosos in Australia.
“Everything is on the line in the Lee Selby fight. Lee Selby has already been a world champion. He has lost the hunger. I want him to remember when he was a 26-year-old hungry fighter just before he won his world title. That hunger he had then is the hunger I have now!”
Australian fighters of late always let me down, I cant see Kambosos changing that. Good luck to him though as Australia doesn’t need another Jeff Horn.
How can you beat someone with a name like Kambosos.
Thats a bit disrespectful to Horn mate. He has done quite well and did Australia proud by beating Pacman.
He doesn’t have a great KO ratio at a much lower level and Selby has been VG defensively but you never know
George is a fighter who never lets you rest,in your face without stopping……… he wears his opponents down !!
Sounds like a tit but can’t deny he’s promising.
Selby is gonna have to have his act together to get anything out of this.