George Kombosos Jr was able to avoid a hometown decision going against him, earning a split points decision against Lee Selby. Welsh-born judge Phil Edwards sided with his countrymen Selby, however thankfully for the Australian, the other judges gave him a clear decision victory.
The 27-year-old Aussie prevailed with scorecards of 118-110, 116-12, and 115-114 going to his opponent.
The contest was evenly contested for the first half of the fight against a smooth Selby who chose throw his punches from the outside. By midway through the contest, Kambosos had gone up a gear, pressed the action, and threw the heavier shos which would pay off in the end.
George “Ferocious” Kombosos moves his professional career to 19-0 and earned himself the mandatory challenger for the IBF lightweight title belt, recently captured by Teofimo Lopez when he triumphed against Vasiliy Lomachenko last month.
A former sparring partner of Manny Pacquiao, Kombosos will be hoping to lure the champ to Australia.
“World No.1, mandatory. Lopez, you know what it is now. Let’s do it Down Under. Two warriors, two lions, let’s go to war. Let’s do it – I want that fight,” Kombosos said in his post-fight speech.
In the main event, Oleksandr Usyk passed the biggest test in his heavyweight career, defeating Derek Chisora after twelve hard fought rounds.
The event, promoted by Matchroom Boxing, took place at Wembley Arena in London.
Results:
- Oleksandr Usyk def. Dereck Chisora via Decision (Unanimous)
- George Kambosos Jnr. (Australia) def. Lee Selby via Decision (Split)
- Savannah Marshall def. Hannah Rankin via TKO, Rd 7
- Tommy McCarthy def. Bilal Laggoune via Decision (Majority)
- Amy Timlin vs. Carly Skelly – Draw (Split)
- Ramla Ali def. Eva Hubmayer via Decision (Unanimous)
