admin

By: Hans Themistode

After months of back and forth trash talk, protracted preparations, and a long list of outside delays that are now extraneous, both Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr. are now officially set to square off.

With only their ceremonial weigh-in standing in the way of their highly anticipated contest, neither man appeared to be struggling on the scales.

As tempered continued to flare all week long, Kambosos Jr. stepped onto the podium first. The Australian native smiled slyly as his team and supporters cheered loudly. Moments later, it was announced that he officially weighed in at 134.4 pounds.

A shirtless Kambosos Jr. paced back and forth as he waited for Lopez to make his way to the stage. Despite team Lopez stating on numerous occasions that 135 was becoming extremely arduous to make, the unified lightweight titlist appeared to be just fine on the scales. He stood stoically while flexing as it was announced that he weighed in at 135 pounds on the nose.

For both sides, their off again, on again contest is finally set to come to an end. After winning the IBF, WBO, WBA, and WBC Franchise titles in his unification showdown against Vasyl Lomachenko late last year, Lopez has sat sequestered on the sidelines. The New York native had long been hoping to return to the ring at a much sooner date. By all accounts, Lopez was on the verge of doing just that.

Originally, the unified lightweight champion and Kambosos Jr. was on the brink of facing off several months ago under the promotional company Triller, who won their purse bid with an offer of over $6 million. However, the pair would endure several delays due to a combination of COVID-19, and unprecedented pushbacks due to Triller attempting to steer clear of competition in the form of NFL football and other sports.

Thanks to the uncertainty of the event altogether, Triller was found to be in default. From there, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom were given the rights to their contest which will now take place this Saturday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

It was experience that spoke throughout this day, since it was two veterans of the world circuit who qualified for the final. Priscilla Gneto (FRA) was indeed Olympic bronze medallist in 2012 in London, while Telma Monteiro (POR) was in Rio in 2016 and she has one of the most extensive records on the circuit.

What is surprising is that after such a long career already for both competitors, it was the first time that they met on the circuit during an event. For most of the time, the match looked really balanced, time running with no shido on the board, when Monteiro, who is one of the strongest competitors on the World Judo Tour when it comes to the mental game, scored a waza-ari after Gneto released her concentration for a tiny moment. It was enough for Monteiro to win her sixth grand slam gold medal.

Both women fought for 7 years (Monteiro) and Gneto (10 years) in the category U52kg but never fought each-other in U52kg nor in the U57kg division.

Telma Monteiro said, “This medal is very special for me. I decided to continue towards Paris 2024 and this is a good start.”

The first bronze medal match saw Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo, winner of the Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix in 2016, face Acelya Toprak (GBR), with no notable reference on the World Judo Tour so far. Hansoku-make was awarded very fast, to Acelya Toprak, as she applied a forbidden technique on her opponent’s arm, giving the victory to Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo.

Seeded number one, the Israeli Timna Nelson Levy, in Abu Dhabi after winning a superb mixed team bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, did not manage to reach the final for her return to competition, defeated by Gneto. She had to console herself with a possible bronze medal, but before that she had another Frenchwoman to confront, Faiza Mokdar. Only 20 years old, Mokdar is one of the nuggets of the current French judo system. She just might shine even brighter in the months and years to come. Fast in action, Mokdar was close to overturning her opponent, but Nelson Levy avoided being pinned. During the next sequence, the latter, who seemed to be in control, actually lost control and was held by Mokdar for a first medal in a grand slam for the French competitor. She displayed really good ne-waza throughout the day.