Lopez, 24, was expected to make light work of his mandatory challenger on Saturday in New York but soon became aware he was in a fight when he was knocked down in the first after Kambosos landed an crushing overhand right.
The champion, who defeated Vasily Lomachenko in his last outing, returned the favor in the tenth, knocking Kambosos down in what was becoming an increasingly difficult fight to call – but the undefeated Australian fighter rallied and finished on the ascendency as the fight went the distance.
Lopez, who was showing signs of the bruising encounter on his face, particularly with a nasty gash above his left eye, seemed confident of victory when the judges’ decision was read aloud – only for his confidence to turn to shock when Kambosos was announced as the winner and the new unified lightweight world champion.
“The referee raised my hand. I won tonight. I don’t care what anybody says, yo. I won tonight. At the end of the day, I’ve been here. I’ve done that.
“Look, I ain’t no sore loser. I take my wins like I take my losses.”
Social media, though, wasn’t quite so convinced.
“Champions take losses really hard… But umm, this ain’t it,” wrote women’s boxing icon Claressa Shields.
“Is Teo serious? Ass got outboxed. Sit his wack ass down somewhere,” added boxer Demond Nicholson.
“Sore loser, man. I don’t like that sh*t. [Get the f*ck] out the ring,” Nicholson added in a subsequent tweet.
The loss was the first for Lopez in his 17-fight professional career. Kambosos, meanwhile, retained his undefeated record (20-0) and has set his sights on a clash with the 26-0 American fighter Devin Haney next.
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