Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. enjoyed one more lengthy staredown before they meet in the ring.

The pair of former titlists both made weight ahead of their vacant IBF lightweight title fight. Ukraine’s Lomachenko arrived late to the official pre-fight weigh-in, but checked in at 134.95 pounds. Kambosos was a fit and trim 134 ¼ pounds. The two then spent more than five minutes on stage before they were forcibly separated by their teams.

Their scheduled twelve-round bout headlines an ESPN tripleheader this Saturday from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Lomachenko (17-3, 11 knockouts) ends a 51-month ring absence with the title bid. He dropped a close decision to then-unbeaten RING/undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) last May 20 in Las Vegas.

Haney abdicated his throne after the fight and now campaigns at 140, where he is The Ring’s No. 1 contender.

Lomachenko, No. 1 at 135, previously held the WBA, WBC and WBO lightweight titles and also reigned at 126 and 130. The two-time Olympic Gold medalist now aims for a fourth overall pro title reign.

Sydney’s Kambosos (21-2. 10 KOs), No. 7 at 135, hopes to enter his second title reign.

An upset split decision win over then-unbeaten Teofimo Lopez saw Kambosos claim The Ring championship in their Nov. 2021 classic. He also netted the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC “Franchise” titles that evening. He lost to Haney in their full unification bout in June 2022, the first of their two-fight set in Melbourne. Kambosos also lost their Oct. 2022 rematch.

Just one fight has followed, a twelve-round win over England’s Maxi Hughes last July 22 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

In the show’s other major title fight, Nina Hughes defends her WBA bantamweight title versus former 122-pound beltholder Cherneka Johnson.

England’s Hughes (6-0, 2 KOs) was 117.55 pounds for her second defense of the title she’s held since Nov. 2022.

Melbourne’s Johnson (15-2, 6 KOs) weighed 116 ¾ pounds in a bid to become a two-division titleholder. She previously held the IBF 122-pound title, which she lost to Ellie Scotney last June 10 in London. Scotney has since unified the IBF and WBO titles and won The Ring championship.

Former titlists Andrew Moloney (26-3, 16 KOs) and Pedro Guevara (41-4-1, 22 KOs) meet in an interim WBC 115-pound title fight.

Moloney was 114 ½ pounds, while Guevara was right under the limit at 114.9 pounds. Guevara replaced former two-time titleholder Carlos Cuadras, who was forced to withdraw earlier this spring due to injury.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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