George Kambosos next fight: Who will new lightweight champ fight after stunning Teofimo Lopez?

The boxing world got a shocker Saturday evening as George Kambosos Jr. upset Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden to claim the IBF, WBA, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles. Devin Haney holds the WBC title, but for the time being, Kambosos can claim his spot as king of the division.

Kambosos won a split decision over the heavily favored Lopez. The new champ took cards 115-111 and 115-112, while the third judge scored the fight 114-113 for Lopez. Lopez came into the fight a -1000 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Kambosos now gets to decide what’s next. Bad Left Hook noted that as an IBF mandatory fight in a fight that went to a purse bid, there is no rematch clause. A rematch with Lopez could prove the most appealing fight to Kambosos but he is under no obligation to take it.

The biggest fight for belt purposes would be with the winner of this coming weekend’s Devin Haney-Joseph Diaz fight for the WBC title. It would set up a unification bout to crown the undisputed lightweight champion. As BLH noted, Kambosos is not tied to a specific broadcaster, which could make this a relatively easy fight to make.

BLH noted all the top fighters in the lightweight division as well as a potential “soft” fight back home in Australia against a mandatory challenger. With no broadcaster ties for the time-being, Kambosos can do just about whatever he wants. He could rematch Lopez, fight the Haney-Diaz winner in a unification bout, fight one of the winner of Vasiliy Lomachenko-Richard Commey, Ryan Garcia, or even Tank Davis if he settles on lightweight vs. junior welterweight.

It’s safe to say George Kambosos will have options moving forward.