George Kambosos Jr. claimed he was the best Australian fighter ever after defeating Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night in New York.
The 28-year-old knocked down his opponent in the first round, and finished stronger over the remainder, securing a 115-111, 115-112, 113-114 split decision.
“I’m the greatest fighter in Australian history. I’ve got all the belts,” Kambosos said after the fight.
“I believed in myself, I backed myself and I said it time after time.
“Look at me now, I’ve got all the jewels. I’m not the king, I’m the emperor because I come to every other country and I take them out one by one.”.
“Cus D’Amato had a great saying, when Muhammad Ali fought an unbelievable puncher in Joe Frazier … ’You hit him with the best right hand you have ever thrown in your life in the first round and change the fight,” Kambosos said of the early advantage he secured..
“That’s what I did, I had that in my head. I had that mentality, that I’m going to hit this guy clean, that I’m going to hit him hard and I’m going to put him down. The fight changed after that.”
Kambosos himself was sent to the canvas later in the fight, but he was unpeturbed.
“I wasn’t hurt,” Kambosos explained.
“I looked at my team, my coaches and said: ’Nothing. Let’s go hard. The next two rounds, I’m going to punish this kid. I won the next two rounds, no problem. That’s the kind of fighter I am.”
The new champion now wants a rematch back in his home country.
“We do it again in Australia, 80,000 people, you and me brother,” told Lopez.
“What a war we’d have. Let’s do it again.”