(Reuters) – Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko delivered a devastating technical knockout in the 11th round of his bout against local favourite George Kambosos Jr to claim the vacant IBF lightweight championship title in Perth on Sunday.
“Loma”, as the two-time Olympic gold medallist is known as, thoroughly dominated the showdown while Kambosos struggled to land his blows and hit the deck in the 11th round.
When the bout resumed, Lomachenko unleashed a flurry of punches to seal his victory in front of 14,000-plus fans at the RAC Arena.
“My plan was to adjust to my opponent,” Lomachenko, who is in the twilight of his career, said after the fight.
“This is what I did in the fight. Toward the end of the rounds I needed to finish strong. In the last three rounds, I was trying to find his body.”
Lomachenko was in charge right from the go, and his technical superiority was evident as he controlled the distance and struck with neat combinations.
The 36-year-old landed a sickening left hook in the eighth round that left Kambosos with blood streaming from near his right eye.
Kambosos doffed his hat to his opponent.
“He’s one of the best fighters in history,” the 30-year-old said.
“I’m not ashamed. I wanted to finish the fight on the feet, I really did.”
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by William Mallard)
Source Agencies
