George Kambosos-Vasiliy Lomachenko title fight confirmed for May 12 in Perth

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George Kambosos Vasiliy Lomachenko
(Getty Images/The Sporting News)

George Kambosos will take on Vasiliy Lomachenko for the vacant IBF lightweight title in Perth on Sunday, May 12.

The long-rumoured bout has now been confirmed, as reported by ESPN's Mike Coppinger, with Kambosos set to bring a third world title fight to Australian shores.

Perth's 15,000-capacity RAC Arena is reported to be the landing spot for the pair who are each looking to regain a world title at 135-pounds.

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Having held belts at featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight, two-time Olympic gold medallist Lomachenko was dethroned by Teofimo Lopez in 2020.

Lopez then dropped the unified titles to Kambosos in late 2021.

In his first attempted defence, Kambosos was defeated by Devin Haney in Melbourne, before the American repeated the result in the rematch to retain the undisputed title.

Haney then put those belts on the line against Lomachenko and came away with a close unanimous decision victory.

When he steps into the ring to face Kambosos, Lomachenko, who turns 36 next month, won't have fought since his loss to Haney, which will be just shy of a year out of the ring.

Kambosos, 30, returned from his own fights with Haney against English southpaw Maxi Hughes in July, emerging victorious via majority decision.

Since taking on both Kambosos and Lomachenko, Haney has moved up to super lightweight and claimed a world title there, leaving the belts at 135-lb up for grabs.

The Kambosos clash, promoted by Top Rank, will take place on Sunday afternoon in Australia, to allow for a Saturday night primetime slot on ESPN in America.

In 20 professional bouts, Ukraine's Lomachenko has only fought outside of the US on two occasions.

Two more Australians in Jason and Andrew Moloney are expected to feature on the card.

Jason defended his WBO bantamweight title with a majority decision win over Saul Sanchez in Quebec City at the weekend, while Andrew will be looking to put himself back in the title picture at super flyweight.

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Tom Naghten Photo

Tom Naghten is a senior editor for The Sporting News Australia.