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Exclusive: George Kambosos Jr open to Lomachenko or Lopez next, says promoter

Lomachenko

Lou DiBella told Planet Sport that a fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez are 'possibilities' for the Australian next if he beats Devin Haney.

Kambosos Jr will make the first defence of his WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight titles against WBC champion Devin Haney on June 5.

The undisputed battle could break the record for the biggest attendance for a boxing match in Australia. Manny Pacquiao's shock defeat to hometown hero Jeff Horn is the current record at 51,052 in Brisbane.

Kambosos Jr was originally expected to face Lomachenko before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Loma has decided to remain in his native to protect his country meaning Haney replaced him as the fighter to face Kambosos Jr.

"There's no fear in George Kambosos or unwillingness to fight the best. I've seen very few fighters in my career that are more insistent than fighting the best," DiBella exclusively told Planet Sport.

"My understanding is he'll have a top trainer in his corner but we're hoping he'll be able to get in," DiBella said about Bill Haney - Devin's father and trainer - who has been denied entry to Australia due to a drug conviction in 1992.

"We're doing everything in our power to help him get in but if he's unable to then it's clear that Devin is going to go ahead with this fight.
"It says a lot about his willingness and desire to be the best so credit to him.
"I expect it to be a great fight - very competitive. They're both boxers but Devin is more the pure boxer and George has more of an aggressive style and I'm expecting a sensational fight."

Loma and Lopez both 'possibilities'

Should Kambosos Jr come through he won't be short of possibilities in the lightweight division.

Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis are two options but it is Lomachenko who is the front-runner to be next for Kambosos Jr if he beats Haney.

If the 28-year-old opts to move up to 140lbs instead, then a familiar foe could also be in line to face him.

"I'm going one fight at a time but I can see Lomachenko (next), I mean if George is victorious then there are a lot of possibilities," said DiBella.

"Right now, we had a deal with Loma but Loma is currently in Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are still at war so I don't think when he will be available but Loma is obviously one of the best fighters in the world and somebody we were willing to fight him so I would say Loma would be a possibility of course."

"Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, Lomachenko, George, Devin - it's an extremely loaded division but the other interesting part is - so is 140 (division).

"The one weight class up now has Teofimo Lopez, Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor so there'll be no shortages of big fights but nobody is looking past Devin Haney. That rematch at 140 is always a possibility in the future," added DiBella.

Lopez - who lost to Kambosos Jr via split-decision in November - is hoping to challenge for world honours at junior welterweight. He has targeted Josh Taylor although he is set to take on mandatory challenger Jose Zepeda next so any potential fight would be the end of the year or early 2023.

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