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JRE MMA Show #116 with George Kambosos

Joe sits down with George Kamobosos Jr., who has held the WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles since November 2021.

Joe RoganhostGeorge Kambosos Jr.guest
Jun 27, 20241h 57mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 15:00

    (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

    1. JR

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

    2. GJ

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

    3. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (instrumental music plays) George, congratulations.

    4. GJ

      Thank you.

    5. JR

      What does it feel like?

    6. GJ

      Yeah, look, it's been pretty crazy. You know, f- obviously on top of the world right now.

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. GJ

      But, um... You know, I've had that vision-

    9. JR

      Does it feel like you're living in a fog, like a dream?

    10. GJ

      A little bit, but I've had that vision, you know, for so long, you know, have manifested it for so long and, um, you know, before this fight, even as a young amateur, I knew I'd be world champion. I knew one day my time would come and, you know, it finally did.

    11. JR

      Well, I was told about you a couple of years ago by my friend Vinny Shorman, uh, who is, uh, big in the Muay Thai world, and Liam Harrison is a-

    12. GJ

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      ... Muay Thai world champion. They were telling me how awesome you were years ago. But, uh, until Saturday night of last week, the world, you know, they didn't know. They had to see it.

    14. GJ

      Yeah, look, uh, both great guys and, um, I think it was 2018, I was in the sp- in, uh, Wild Card Gym sparring. And I'm in the ring and I see these two guys and they're watching, so I thought, "You know, I'll put on a show for these guys, and let's see, they might be someone that can take me to the next level, they might be promoters, who knows?" So I always wanna put a- put on a show. And, uh, they couldn't believe it. And then I knew that they were coming on your show when I started speaking to them. And when they dropped my name on it, I was like, "Wow, this is amazing."

    15. JR

      (laughs)

    16. GJ

      And now I'm here with you. You know, so...

    17. JR

      Well, your performance against Teofimo was, uh, spectacular. It was amazing. And, um, I mean, it was a, a fight where w- how much of an underdog were you coming into that fight?

    18. GJ

      I was a huge underdog, you know, seven to one underdog.

    19. JR

      Wow.

    20. GJ

      You know, BetOnline.AG had me seven to one, so, you know, um, that just shows you the adversity that you have to come through. You can be a massive underdog, but no matter what, you know, you get through it and you, you can win whatever you choose to do.

    21. JR

      Well, you were undefeated coming into that fight, but you just hadn't faced the same level of opposition that he had. And it didn't mean that you weren't capable of it, it just, you just hadn't had the opportunity before. So it wasn't a seven to one, like, they didn't think you had the skills. It was seven to one that you just hadn't had that, that moment in the sun before.

    22. GJ

      I think because... That's right, I haven't had my moment yet leading into that fight, but, you know, he was coming off the big Lomachen- Lomachenko fight.

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. GJ

      The big win there. What he'd done in that fight, so impressive. He knocked out Richard Commey as well, so the hype, the, the, the noise that he was making, this was just gonna be a normal mandatory fight, you know, that took so long to make, and, um, he was supposed to just do the business and move on to something bigger. But, you know, that hunger that I had, you know, that, that tunnel vision to show who I am, to show how great I am. And I had to go through it all in that fight, you know, from the cuts to being put down in round 10, but I knew that this is my greatness now, how, how good I can be and show the world and shock the world.

    25. JR

      It is... You definitely did shock the world. It is a reoccurring theme in boxing, and in all combat sports, when someone takes an opponent lightly and they go in thinking they're just gonna steamroll this guy and then they get met with reality. I mean, it's happened so many times in fighters' careers. And then there's also the other reoccurring theme, a guy like yourself, who has his eyes on the prize, is completely focused, and people are counting them out, and then they rise to the occasion and become a superstar.

    26. GJ

      Y-

    27. JR

      And that's what happened to you.

    28. GJ

      You, you say it many times. A- and I feel that he didn't take me lightly because he was in great shape, he was in unbelievable condition. I felt as we led into the fight and we had that first press conference where we looked into each other's eyes and I saw that the, you know, a, a guy who... It came too fast and you needed to be matched with someone that was not gonna take a step backwards. And the whole thing was his whole preparation, I was never gonna take one step backwards. I never gave him that, that inch. And even in the fight, I never gave him that inch. I was always there to be dominant. And I felt like he was a, he was a bully kind of character, you know-

    29. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    30. GJ

      ... where he bullied Lomachenko, he bullied Commey.

  2. 15:00 – 30:00

    (laughs) …

    1. GJ

      "Why is he going against me? He's countryman. Why couldn't he give me a phone call?" And me being me, you know, I, I turned around and him being a school teacher and said, "I've never asked for permission, you know-

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. GJ

      ... from, from a school teacher ever. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna go do my thing with, with Pacquiao no matter what."

    4. JR

      I think he's gotta understand that you had to. I mean-

    5. GJ

      And I think he does.

    6. JR

      Yeah.

    7. GJ

      I think he does now.

    8. JR

      Yeah.

    9. GJ

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      He had to. Um, and w- to be able to have an opportunity like that, to spar 250 rounds with one of the greatest of all time, I mean, what d- he won world titles in, what, eight divisions?

    11. GJ

      Eight divisions.

    12. JR

      Crazy.

    13. GJ

      13 or 14 world titles.

    14. JR

      Crazy.

    15. GJ

      It, it will never be done again.

    16. JR

      Crazy.

    17. GJ

      And as much as, uh, you wanna see records broken and, you know, I wanna, I wanna break records, that man i- i- is a one of one.

    18. JR

      He's a one of one.

    19. GJ

      Yeah.

    20. JR

      I mean, when he knocked down Thurman in th- that fight, I was like, "This is crazy."

    21. GJ

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      This guy's 40 years old and still can crack and still as fast as lightning.

    23. GJ

      Yeah, the... Look, the, the power that he possesses, but it's not a thumping power, it's that explosive speed, that, that-

    24. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    25. GJ

      ... that explosive power, the footwork, he gets in position and all of a sudden he's landed three, four, five shots and then he's angled off. A lot like I did in my fight against Lopez. You know, a lot of that, you know, sparring paid off and it did shape me. And I know he did put out a tweet as well saying that, "I hope the sparring we did, you know, helped you win this fight." And straight away.

    26. JR

      That's amazing.

    27. GJ

      And I was also excited. Yeah, he's a legend of the sport.

    28. JR

      He is a legend and he's a, he's such an unusual guy. You know what's crazy about him is his calves.

    29. GJ

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      When you look at that-

  3. 30:00 – 45:00

    Uh, did you hear…

    1. GJ

    2. JR

      Uh, did you hear about any of that?

    3. GJ

      I have heard about that-

    4. JR

      Yeah.

    5. GJ

      ... but we knew that coming in. I knew that, you know, the corner that he has... You know, I don't wanna put anyone on the spot, but his father, you know, is... When you're getting information a- a- and you gotta, you gotta have trust in your corner, you know? My corner is unbelievable from, you know, my, my coaches, Javier Santino and Mick O'Callaghan, to my cutman, Mike Bazzle, to even my father was the fourth, Jimmy Kambosos, which I'll tell a funny story with that as well. Um-You know, you wanna have trust in your team because again, you could be taking a lot of punishment. And again, as, as much as you don't wanna stop the fight, I expect my corner to, to have that trust and, and to throw in the towel or stop the fight. 'Cause we wanna leave that ring and go back to our kids and, and, and family. Now, his corner, you know, they, they didn't do a right job. His cut man took forever to get in the ring. You know, his, his dad was giving him the wrong information. They had no game plan.

    6. JR

      Yeah. The game plan was take him out.

    7. GJ

      Yep. And that, that's not a game plan. We had a perfect game plan.

    8. JR

      Yeah.

    9. GJ

      Round by round, we executed it round by round. You know, these guys had no game plan and that's, you know, that's on them. Yeah.

    10. JR

      I think after he beat Lomachenko, they had this idea that he was the next superstar-

    11. GJ

      Yeah.

    12. JR

      ... and he was gonna steamroll you and steamroll everybody else. And because he's such a heavy puncher-

    13. GJ

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      ... and the way he fought, like with that super stiff jab with Lomachenko-

    15. GJ

      Mm-hmm.

    16. JR

      ... and, like, real aggressive, and the fact that he was n- able to maintain that pace throughout the entire 12-round fight, and Lomachenko, I think it was in the 11th, he put it on him a little.

    17. GJ

      Yeah. Yeah, he did.

    18. JR

      He really got to him, and Lopez survived that, and then came back to win the 12th.

    19. GJ

      I knew from that fight that the size difference between myself and Lomachenko, obviously, I'm a lot bigger, but my speed, my explosive power, the way I move and get in positions and throw, you know, punches and combinations that are, are quite awkward shots, shots that you don't see-

    20. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    21. GJ

      ... I knew that I would have that advantage, you know, and I was never gonna wait. I was gonna come in there like I did in round one-

    22. JR

      Yeah. Yeah.

    23. GJ

      ... take the shots, be prepared to take shots, and obviously, you know, land my shots as well, and, and put him down, and show my, what, what I'm about and get my respect. But, um, that's on them. They, they, they made a, a big mistake there with, with the corner. Um, they did have a very good coach that they usually use, but they didn't have him-

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. GJ

      ... for whatever reason, he wasn't there.

    26. JR

      I was talking to my friend, uh, Radio Raheem today. We were talking, I was... He's a giant boxing fan.

    27. GJ

      Yeah.

    28. JR

      You know Radio.

    29. GJ

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      He does a lot of those, um, interviews on YouTube and just, he's a real expert.

  4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

    Yeah. …

    1. GJ

      um, we'll see now. You know, the ball's in, in my court. I get to pick, but also, they need to present now who wants to fight.

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. GJ

      It's gotta be presented now.

    4. JR

      Does, uh... Did they get a medical analysis of Gervonta's hand?

    5. GJ

      Uh, I'm not sure yet. Yeah, so that, that there is probably gonna be an issue.

    6. JR

      Yeah.

    7. GJ

      But, um, I hope that the hand is, is, is okay.

    8. JR

      Yeah, hopefully it's not a break.

    9. GJ

      Because if we do go with, with Tank, you know, I don't want no more excuses. I'm sick of hearing excuses from these guys.

    10. JR

      (laughs) Yeah, well d- that's, to me... Well, either way, Haney's amazing too.

    11. GJ

      Yeah.

    12. JR

      It, it would, it'd be a fantastic fight.

    13. GJ

      They're great fighters. They're great-

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. GJ

      Lopez's a great fighter as well.

    16. JR

      Yes, yes.

    17. GJ

      You know, I'm so privileged to, to be the, the champion right now at this, you know, division. 135 pounds is the hardest division in the world.

    18. JR

      It really is.

    19. GJ

      So to be, to be ruling and the emperor of the division.

    20. JR

      The emperor.

    21. GJ

      Because you've got the four kings.

    22. JR

      Yes.

    23. GJ

      So...

    24. JR

      Right. (laughs)

    25. GJ

      We came out with a, with a cool little thing that they can be the four kings, but the emperor, you know, always and more.

    26. JR

      I like it. Now, when, you know, you, you look at that division, I mean, the, it's arguable that that's the most stacked division in boxing.

    27. GJ

      Yeah.

    28. JR

      Would Lomachenko... Is he gonna drop down to 130 or is he gonna fight, he's gonna rem- remain at 135? 'Cause he's the smallest guy in the division, right?

    29. GJ

      Yeah, he's the smallest guy. Obviously he's come from 126-

    30. JR

      Mm-hmm.

  5. 1:00:00 – 1:05:43

    15? …

    1. GJ

      perfecting the, the, the, the punches a little bit more, you know, work on that, that shot that I landed on Lopez in round one. If I threw it maybe a little bit more with an angle, I might have put him to sleep at that moment. So we keep, keep working. There's so much more to do, you know. In that fight, the world might have thought that, that they've seen the best of, of Kambosos, but, you know, for me, I feel like that was 15%. There is so much more to go.

    2. JR

      15?

    3. GJ

      Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, there was moments in that fight where I said, "Come on, throw that shot, throw that shot," and they weren't coming off. So I know that there is a lot more. But once I sit down and watch the fight, I'll be able to, you know, analyze it even more and, and, and game plan, and you know, get the noteput out... no- notebook out and go through it all. Start-

    4. JR

      It's...

    5. GJ

      ... running mistakes.

    6. JR

      It's interesting because that is the mentality that makes a true champion.

    7. GJ

      Yeah.

    8. JR

      Someone who's never satisfied with their performance and always wants to do better.

    9. GJ

      Yeah, it is. I'm, I'm never content. You know, I just won the Undisputed Championship, you know, I have not even, you know, had one, one celebration drink. You know, I have, I have been so focused. I've been in Vegas, I've been in LA, I'm here now. Not one celebration drink.You know, that's, that's the kind of, uh, you know, fighter I am, and dedicated to this sport.

    10. JR

      You, you got the Ring Magazine belt-

    11. GJ

      Yeah.

    12. JR

      ... which is, by many people, they think that that's probably, like, the most unbiased of the belts.

    13. GJ

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      Because if you look at the regulatory bodies, they all have their own mandatory challengers, and there's a lot of shenanigans that go on with that. Is ... Y- you know, so now you have the IBF, you have the WBO-

    15. GJ

      Yeah.

    16. JR

      ... and you have the Ring Magazine title?

    17. GJ

      I have the IBF, yeah, the WBO, Ring Magazine, WBO super title, which is, you know, the, the best WBO belt you can get. And I also have the WBC franchise belt, which is, uh, to me, it's a super title as well. I know Haney has a WBC belt, and, um, you know, the way the WBC has, has set this up is you got a super champion, a guy who, uh, you know, cannot have any mandatories, can be able to maneuver, you know, and, and, and have options to do what they wanna do, which I like. Because the last thing you wanna do is be caught up in a mandatory where it doesn't make sense.

    18. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    19. GJ

      You know, I can maneuver where I have to, so ...

    20. JR

      How'd you get to become a super champion? How's that work?

    21. GJ

      Well, Lopez was the super champion.

    22. JR

      Right. But-

    23. GJ

      He had everything, so ...

    24. JR

      But what does, how does one become a super champion? What is the, their, their s- ...

    25. GJ

      I think it's, um, when you've defended the, the belt certain times, they elevate you to a, to a point. But-

    26. JR

      Seems odd, right?

    27. GJ

      It i- i- you know, I'm old-school. I'm old-school, and-

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. GJ

      ... you know, I love all the belts. You know, they're, they're my, you know, they're my pride now, you know, they're like my kids now. It's like I've got five new kids. (laughs)

    30. JR

      (laughs)

Episode duration: 1:57:51

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