George Kambosos Jr. walked away with the win against tough short-notice opponent Jake Wyllie on March 22 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Making his hometown ring appearance, the former unified lightweight champion secured a unanimous decision with scores of 117-111, 115-113, and 117-111.
Kambosos, who debuted at 140 lbs, improved his record to 22-3, with 10 KOs. The 31-year-old bounced back from a defeat via 11th-round TKO against Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) for the vacant IBF 135-pound title last May. On his way to victory, the Sydney native suffered a cut from a clash of heads in the ninth round.
Wyllie, from Everton Park, Queensland, took the fight on less than a week’s notice, replacing Daud Yordan (43-4, 31 KOs) of Indonesia. The 24-year-old, who previously held the Australian super lightweight title, dropped to 16-2, with 15 KOs.
Post-fight, Kambosos called out Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs). The 27-year-old native of Brooklyn, New York is the reigning IBF super lightweight champion, having dethroned Liam Paro (25-1, 15 KOs) by split decision last December.
“It was a good war,” Kambosos said. “He’s a tough kid. I always knew he was going to be prepared. He’s the best domestic guy at 140 lbs, and he has a lot more to give in his future. Good on him. He had five days’ notice, but so did I. It was a hell of a fight.”
“I would have loved to put him away. But credit to him. A win is a win, and we move on to what comes next. S***-chins won’t fight nowhere near as hard as him [Jake Wyllie]. Hitchins, let’s go!”
“I want to fight you toe-to-toe. I know Hitchins is a tip-tap kind of guy, and he will try and hit and run. I’m a warrior. I boxed beautifully for the first five rounds. We’ll get this cut cleaned up, and we’ll be ready.”
“Eddie [Hearn], let’s do it. I’m all in, and I want to fight the best of the best. If Hitchins is your best guy, then let him fight toe-to-toe with me. End of June? Bring it on.”
In Kambosos vs Wyllie undercard action
In the co-main event, Tiara Brown (19-0, 11 KOs) of Fort Myers, Florida upset Australia’s Skye Nicolson (12-1, 1 KO) with a split decision to become the new WBC featherweight champion. After 10 rounds, the judges scored the fight 96-94, 97-93, and 94-96.
Among other Kambosos vs Wyllie results, Australian heavyweight Teremoana Jnr (7-0, 7 KOs) stopped James Singh (12-6, 11 KOs) of Fiji in the first round. Cherneka Johnson (17-2, 6 KOs) of New Zealand successfully defended her WBC bantamweight title via seventh-round TKO in a rematch against former champion Nina Hughes (6-2) of England.
In the telecast opener, Sydney-based Imam Khataev (10-0, 9 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Durval Elias Palacio (14-4, 11 KOs) of Argentina. After 10 rounds at light heavyweight, the scores were 99-89, 99-89, and 98-90.
Among the bouts featured on the non-televised undercard, Hemi Ahio (24-1, 18 KOs) of New Zealand TKO’d Aekkaphob Auraiwan (9-4-1, 7 KOs) of Thailand in the first round at heavyweight. Plus, Jayden Buan (4-0, 2 KOs) defeated fellow Australian Jordan Kasilieris (1-4-1, 1 KO) by unanimous decision at welterweight, with the scores 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.