Vasiliy Lomachenko travels to Perth, Australia to challenge George Kambosos Jr for the vacant IBF lightweight world title on May 12.
The event is being funded, in part, by the Western Australian Government and continues the good times for Australian boxing. The nation invited Manny Pacquiao to Brisbane to face Jeff Horn in 2017 and the country has since produced world champions such as Kambosos, Tim Tszyu, Jai Opetaia and Jason Moloney.
Kambosos was also able to lure Devin Haney to his native Melbourne for back-to-back undisputed world title fights in 2022. The fights were again backed by the local government and staged at Marvel Stadium and the Rod Laver Arena.
In May, big-time boxing returns to Perth, rather than the expected Melbourne or Sydney. The city is sparsely mentioned in boxing’s history books, however, promoter and Perth native Tony Tolj keeps the clock ticking with his Thunderdome Series, while also managing Alex Winwood, Andrew Moloney and WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney.
“It’s a breath of fresh air to have international fights in Perth again,” Tolj said, in an exclusive interview. “It’s a huge fight on the world stage, and having a card with three world title fights is absolutely massive.
“Perth is becoming an epicenter for tourism. They just had the UFC here and on the 24th of February they have WWE coming for one of their pay-per-views. Now we have a triple world title header coming in May, it’s all happening at the moment. These all get government funding because of tourism. It seems to have worked because all these events are selling out. They put in a set dollar figure, then the venue will be at a reduced rate because it’s part of the government. It also gives the venue great exposure on a global scene and it is great for the promoter because the money being fronted by the state evaporates any risk factor.”
The undercard for Lomachenko-Kambosos still needs two world title fights for Perth to fulfill its promises, but Tolj’s Australian stable provides Top Rank with options.
“There is only so much room on the card,” Tolj explained, “but we are discussing some fights at the moment. Nothing is finalized yet, but we have spoken about Jason Moloney defending his title on that card. As a group, we have indicated that we want to fight in Australia next, but we have had an offer to fight abroad. Jason loves fighting in America, was grateful to defend his title in Canada but he does really want to have a fight at home in Australia.
“The fact that it could be in my hometown, it just seems like a logical step for everyone involved.”