By: Hans Themistode
After months of back and forth trash talk, protracted preparations, and a long list of outside delays that are now extraneous, both Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr. are now officially set to square off.
With only their ceremonial weigh-in standing in the way of their highly anticipated contest, neither man appeared to be struggling on the scales.
As tempered continued to flare all week long, Kambosos Jr. stepped onto the podium first. The Australian native smiled slyly as his team and supporters cheered loudly. Moments later, it was announced that he officially weighed in at 134.4 pounds.
A shirtless Kambosos Jr. paced back and forth as he waited for Lopez to make his way to the stage. Despite team Lopez stating on numerous occasions that 135 was becoming extremely arduous to make, the unified lightweight titlist appeared to be just fine on the scales. He stood stoically while flexing as it was announced that he weighed in at 135 pounds on the nose.
For both sides, their off again, on again contest is finally set to come to an end. After winning the IBF, WBO, WBA, and WBC Franchise titles in his unification showdown against Vasyl Lomachenko late last year, Lopez has sat sequestered on the sidelines. The New York native had long been hoping to return to the ring at a much sooner date. By all accounts, Lopez was on the verge of doing just that.
Originally, the unified lightweight champion and Kambosos Jr. was on the brink of facing off several months ago under the promotional company Triller, who won their purse bid with an offer of over $6 million. However, the pair would endure several delays due to a combination of COVID-19, and unprecedented pushbacks due to Triller attempting to steer clear of competition in the form of NFL football and other sports.
Thanks to the uncertainty of the event altogether, Triller was found to be in default. From there, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom were given the rights to their contest which will now take place this Saturday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.