Vasiliy Lomachenko is still 36 years old.
The Ukrainian boxer, who had not worn a major belt in over three years, achieved a dominant performance by knocking out George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round to capture the vacant IBF 135-pound title on Saturday night (US time) in Perth, Australia, the loser’s home country.
The official stop time is 2:49.
Lomachenko (18-3, 11 KOs) is a three-pound titlist but the last time he could call himself champion was 2020, the year he was upset by Teofimo Lopez and lost his title lightweight brand.
He then won three straight fights to earn a shot at champion Devin Haney but lost a controversial decision last May.
Bettors believe he will eventually regain the title against former champion Kambosos at RAC Arena, making him a 5½-1 favorite. And they were right.
Lomachenko overcame his tough but superior opponent, dispatching Kambosos with quick, precise shots from every conceivable angle and getting almost nothing in return.
Kambosos threw punches here and there – including some hard shots to the body – but he couldn’t connect enough to compete.
Lomachenko seemed to be on his way to a unanimous decision victory when he suddenly ended the fight in the penultimate round. The key blow was a left blow to the stomach, which brought an exhausted and bloody Kambosos to his knees.
He followed with a series of unanswered punches, enough to convince Kambosos’ father to give up and the referee to stop the one-sided fight.
CompuBox’s statistics reflect Lomachenko’s dominance. He landed 175 of 480 punches (36.5%), Kambosos only 40 of 371 (10.8%). The winner was even more impressive in the power punch department, connecting on 105 of 210 (50%). Kambosos is 36 out of 189 (19%).
In other words, Lomachenko couldn’t have been much more effective even though he was fighting a former unified champion.
He could now set his sights on one of his talented fighters, Shakur Stevenson (WBC) or Gervonta Davis (WBA), both of whom are far superior to Kambosos.
Promoter Bob Arum, who handles Lomachenko, said before Saturday’s fight that he would try to compete against him and Stevenson later this year. And Davis called out Lomachenko on social media during the fight.
