Lopez vs. Kambosos Jr. betting odds, preview, and pick

Teofimo Lopez (16-0) is set to make the first defense of his lightweight title against plucky Australian George Kambosos Jr. (19-0). The clash of the undefeated lightweights takes place on Saturday, June 19, and we have the betting odds and preview you need for fight night.

Lopez is riding high

When we last saw Lopez, he won a competitive decision against one of the world’s best fighters in Vasyl Lomachenko. Behind a ramrod jab and supreme confidence, Lopez gave the master boxer a boxing lesson and walked away with Lomachenko’s titles.

Lopez is strong, fast, skilled, and big for the lightweight division. We’ve seen him blast opponents out, but he can fall back on his formidable boxing skills if his foe is able to take his power.

Kambosos is picking up momentum

The Australian is Lopez’s mandatory contender, and he didn’t get there via smoke and mirrors. Kambosos stepped up his competition in recent fights, winning back-to-back bouts against former champions Mickey Bey and Lee Selby in a pair of split decision wins.

The difference-maker in those bouts was a consistent amount of pressure and stalking. The 27-year-old also has a chip on his shoulder going into the fight, and believes he’s being overlooked.

Lopez is way out of Kambosos’ league

Little is known about Kambosos, but from what we have seen, it’s hard to see how he’ll trouble Lopez. To be frank, this is likely the only chance he’ll ever get at the title because he's simply not an elite competitor. Kambosos will do what he can to make it a fight and try to rough Lopez up on the inside, but he’s massively outgunned.

Lomachenko started slow against Lopez, and it cost him the fight. Kambosos, who is nowhere near Lomachenko’s class, often takes more than a few rounds to figure out his approach. Those tentative moments are not going to serve him well here. We can expect Lopez to put Kambosos down if he feels that he can hurt him, but he can just as simply outbox him for a dominant decision.

It’s hard to say how he’ll do it, but Lopez is a lead pipe lock here. Expect Lopez to make the most of his pay-per-view debut by getting to Kambosos early, and dropping him and finishing him off within five rounds.

Boxing pick: Lopez