George Kambosos Junior is a kid who didn’t cut the corners when he was running laps at footy training, overweight and coming last. He was more interested in the process than the result.
When his dad turned around in the car back home he said, “George, you know if you cut a couple corners just like the other kids you might come second last”, he replied, “I won’t Dad, I am going to do it right, I want to have discipline”.
Even at the age of nine George saw rugby league as “not enough” because it was for only six months of the year.
“When I started boxing I started losing weight, people started finding out that I could fight and before that I wasn’t really confident,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for boxing I wouldn’t know where I would be.”
George saw boxing as a way to stop being “that fat kid”, running at the back of the pack. He dropped 14 kilos and earned a reputation of knowing how to fight, to stop the bulling and stop the losing.
By the time George left league he was winning the race around the field; still without cutting the corners.
Now at 21, George has been boxing professionally for more than a year. On August 29 he will be ducking under the ropes to face the biggest fight of his career. If he wins the bout he will be crowned the Australian champion of lightweight boxing.
Kambosos is undefeated in his pro career and after five fights with three knockouts he thinks he is in prime condition to take the title. He had to battle his way through the amateur circuit, winning 85 fights out of 100 having to travel overseas and compete.
This wasn’t easy for the family and this is why George knows the importance of working hard for something.
“We had to organise meat raffles at the Stella Inn at Kempsey to get him over to Russia and the Ukraine,” George’s dad Jim Kambosos said.
“Half of the money was from the family and the other from fundraisers. They were
great.”
Jim saw the significance of getting his son overseas to compete not just for the fights but for his development as young man and to experience a different culture and represent his country.
‘Ferocious’ Kambosos’ chance at the Australian title didn’t just happen, much like his trips to compete overseas. He was the instigator, no managers or sponsors, just him and his opponent, the current Australian champ Robert ‘Gummy’ Toomey.
George started prodding the champ on social media.
“I called him out, saying Toomey you’re the champ let’s get it on because you know it’s a fight that Australia wants to see,” George said.
With no response from ‘Gummy’ George kept on antagonising by saying things like, “the champs not responding?” This then got the attention of a boxing publication and two days later Ferocious got a call from a promoter saying, “the fight’s on”.
George sees this fight as a chance of redemption after what he says was a controversial bout during the trials for the 2012 Olympics in London, when he was still an amateur.
He made it to the final in Tasmania against Luke Jackson, who won the bout in a countback after the fight initially ended in a draw.
“In that last 30 seconds I thought I had won, I was thinking I was going to the Olympics,” George said.
“And then it was gone, all that training.”
“After that I had to make one of the biggest decisions of my career and choose to stay on the amateur circuit and wait until the next Olympics or become a pro and start getting paid more and compete in bigger fights.”
George had to make this difficult decision because in the world of boxing a pro cannot compete in the Olympics, only amateurs. If George decided to continue aiming for a medal he would have to continue training as hard as he could with little backing from sponsors and relying heavily upon his family to support him.
He says that people told him he was more suited for the pro circuit, which has more rounds and no padded helmets.
“Pro boxing is the modern day gladiators, it going to be a war,” he said.
Ferocious and his dad are covered in tats and come from a Greek background. Both respect their ancestry of warriors and Spartans, who were powerful fighters of the ancient world. George says he carries that mentality into his fights.
“It’s a fight, kill or be killed,” he said.
“You have to respect a good fight and it ends there, you leave it in the ring.”
Kambosos sees the importance of promotion and essentially being his own brand, he utilises social media as a platform to showcase the steps he is taking in his career, and most importantly to promote his fights.
“Australian boxing needs someone to bring the life back into the sport, to make it interesting again,” George said.
He understands that his cheekiness can jeopardise a few things, but for now it’s his thing.
The Australian lightweight title bout is on Friday, August 29.
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