George Kambosos Jr.’s Career On The Line: Must Win Against Jake Wyllie To Secure IBF Title Shot Or Face Irrelevance

Promoter Eddie Hearn says George Kambosos Jr’s “career is over” if he loses to his replacement opponent Jake Wyllie this Saturday, March 22nd, in their 12-round headliner on DAZN at the Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in Australia.

(Credit: Matchroom Boxing)

After the Goldmine

The former three-belt lightweight champion Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs) will challenge IBF 140-lb title-holder Richardson Hitchins next if he’s victorious. If Kambosos loses, as Hearn points out, his career is essentially over.

The ‘Emperor’ probably won’t retire because he can still make good coin fighting in front of his Australian fans, but he’s not going to be viewed as a relevant fighter among the top light heavyweight pool of fighters.

Kambosos’ career is already on life support as it is, with him basically going 0-4 since his upset victory over Teofimo Lopez on November 27, 2021. He’s a textbook example of a one-hit wonder. He transmuted a win over an injured, ring-rusty Teofimo into a goldmine, making a fortune of millions from that lone victory.

The way that Hearn’s eyes lit up when talking about Wyllie’s chances of winning on Saturday, he looks like he believes the 24-year-old will defeat Kambosos. It’s not a great thing for Hearn if Kambosos loses this fight because it would foil his plans on making the clash against IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs).

This guy needs wins over notable fighters, and Kambosos would be a good scalp to add to his resume. Hitchins is like a better version of Shakur Stevenson. He can do all the things he can but with more power and aggressiveness. Hitchins is an upgraded, modern version of Shakur.

Wyllie’s Opportunity

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of pressure on George this week. If you win, you move forward and fight Richardson Hitchins for the [IBF light welterweight] world title to try and become a two-division champion. If you lose, your career is over. I’m looking forward to it,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Jai McAllister Boxing about what George Kambosos Jr. has at stake in his fight against his replacement opponent Jake Wyllie this Saturday night in Sydney, Australia.

Kambosos seemed nonchalant about what he was up against yesterday, dismissing Wyllie as a non-threat, but he could be kidding himself. How George has looked in his last four fights suggests that he could lose on Saturday.

“Great undercard with Skye Nicolson-Tiara Brown, it’s an amazing fight. We received a call on Saturday to say he [Kamboso’s original opponent] has been taken to the hospital. He had some headaches and dizzy spells. He said, ‘We’ll keep you updated,’ and I was like, ‘You can’t go to the hospital a week before the fight. You’re out, mate,’ and the search begins,” said Hearn.

“It’s very difficult at that point to bring someone over from the UK. It takes really three days to get to Australia with the time difference. When he looked at this date for Kambosos, I actually said to them, ‘You should look at Jake Wyllie. He’s in the same weight class, he’s young, undefeated, and ambitious. There’s a good narrative there with the established guy against the young fighter,’” said Hearn.