PERTH, Australia -- Pound-for-pound megastar Vasiliy Lomachenko proved he still has plenty more left in the tank after battering former unified world champion George Kambosos Jr. for 11 rounds at a capacity RAC Arena to capture the IBF lightweight title.
Just as he did in last year's narrow and controversial loss to Devin Haney, 36-year-old Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) showcased his unrivaled footwork and agility, demonstrated patience when required, and struck clinical combination attacks to not only leave Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs) bloody and bruised but his international boxing career in tatters.
Lomachenko was in utter control throughout the contest and finished the fight in the 11th round after landing a flurry of body punches that dropped Kambosos.
The referee cleared the Australian to continue, and Lomachenko went straight back to the body with another attack, this time forcing Kambosos' corner to throw in the towel.
It's Lomachenko's first knockout since his ninth-round stoppage of Masayoshi Nakatani in June 2021.
"We trained hard for this moment. My plan was to adjust to my opponent. This is what I did during the fight and the end of the rounds I need to finish strong," Lomachenko told ESPN. "I want to say big thank you to my opponent. He's a strong man, he's a true warrior. I want to say thank you to Top Rank who give me this chance, be a champion again, Bob Arum and, of course, for all people who support boxing, God bless you."
Kambosos might have been a 6-1 outsider to score against Lomachenko, but the Australian was no stranger to adopting and thriving off the underdog tag.
In 2021, Kambosos famously upset Teofimo Lopez by split decision at Madison Square Garden -- still the American's only loss to date -- to take hold of a quartet of lightweight straps. It's a fight that was named ESPN's Upset of the Year and remains one of modern-day boxing's biggest boilovers. He'd also never previously been stopped, making him a tricky opponent for the two-time Olympic champion.
But from the opening bell in Perth, it was evident the likelihood of a similar result was slim. The gulf in quality between the two fighters was clear as Lomachenko toyed with his opponent, landing the cleaner, heavier blows to the head and using that slick footwork to escape just about every one of Kambosos' attacks.
It was vintage Lomachenko, who appeared totally unfazed in the ring. He did as he pleased, knowing an out-of-his-depth Kambosos could not repel it.
In the fifth round, Lomachenko very nearly knocked Kambosos down with a left hook. In the seventh round, he decided to switch up his tactics and hammer the body of Kambosos.
The lopsided fight was reflected in the CompuBox numbers, with Lomachenko landing 175 punches to Kambosos' 40. The Aussie connected on just four of his 182 attempted jabs, compared to 70 of 270 from Lomachenko.
Lomachenko also landed three times as many power punches as Kambosos in a performance that suggested he can still go toe-to-toe with the world's best, and more often than not make them look a class below.
"I'm a tough Aussie bastard. We don't want to take easy fights. This guy is one of the best of all time in history," Kambosos said after the fight. "He's a true champion. He deserves that belt. I gave it my all. We'll see what's next."
Later, Kambosos added: "The first bit of the fight was quite good on our behalf, and then he started getting that edge a little bit. I came back a little bit again, but he's a true champion. This is one of the best fighters in history. So, I'm not ashamed."
Earlier in the week, Arum suggested Lomachenko could be in line to fight Shakur Stevenson if he was able to account for Kambosos. That fight remains firmly on the cards, with both fighters now eyeing potential unification of the lightweight division. It's also possible Lomachenko faces the winner of next week's WBO lightweight title fight in San Diego between Emanuel Navarrete and Denys Berinchyk.