BoxRec

Lee Selby: Welsh lightweight set to face Gustavo Lemos in IBF title eliminator

Former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby is set to fight Gustavo Lemos in a final eliminator to face George Kambosos Jr for his lightweight titles.

Australian Kambosos stunned American Teofimo Lopez on a split decision in New York last week to hold the WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight belts.

Selby lost a split decision to Kambosos at Wembley Arena in October 2020.

But the 34-year-old will become the IBF mandatory challenger if he overcomes unbeaten Argentinian Lemos, 25.

That would give Selby the opportunity to become the first two-weight world champion from Wales.

Selby's Promoter Jamie Sanigar has confirmed that Selby, ranked fourth by the IBF, and Lemos - ranked third - would contest the final eliminator, with purse negotiations understood to be under way.

That is because number two contender Isaac Cruz challenges Gervonta Davis for his WBA lightweight title this weekend.

While the winner of Selby-Lemos would become the IBF's mandatory challenger - as Kambosos also holds the WBA and WBO titles - there will be others jostling for a place in the queue to face a man who is now unbeaten in 20 fights.

Kambosos has been called out by American Devin Haney, who holds the WBC lightweight belt.

Kambosos said there was potential for a rematch with Selby, but told BBC Radio 5 Live boxing "we've got bigger fish to fry now" following his win over Lopez.

"All respect to Lee. I've never said a bad word about him since our fight was done," Kambosos said.

"I don't believe the fight was nowhere near close. He's a very good boxer - he's big, he's rangy and he moves very well. I knew Lopez would be better for my style and styles make fights.

"Lee is a crafty technician but I outboxed him that night as well, picked him apart.

"We'll see. If he picks up another good win there might be a rematch there.

"I don't duck or dodge anybody; I'll fight anyone anytime. But I want to fight back home now - I've earned that."

Must admit I thought Lee had retired.

IBF at it again.

Selby hasn't even fight since losing to Kambosos.

Already back in an eliminator.

Give someone else a chance.

Boxerbeetle wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:08 Must admit I thought Lee had retired.

That was Andy, he retired in 2020.

I respect the IBF in that they enforce their rules and don’t have anywhere near as many interim or other titles to compared to the others but one thing that winds me up is their poor mandatory process. What has Selby done at lightweight to warrant 2 final eliminators? And 2 in a row. Surely he needed to come back with a good win before he’s even considered? How can they justify him as being their 4th best lightweight contender. He hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years!

Jeez I thought Selby had retired, how the hell have they given him another eliminator!

I don’t think anybody particularly wants to see him anywhere near another title fight.

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:15 I respect the IBF in that they enforce their rules and don’t have anywhere near as many interim or other titles to compared to the others but one thing that winds me up is their poor mandatory process. What has Selby done at lightweight to warrant 2 final eliminators? And 2 in a row. Surely he needed to come back with a good win before he’s even considered? How can they justify him as being their 4th best lightweight contender. He hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years!

They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:15 I respect the IBF in that they enforce their rules and don’t have anywhere near as many interim or other titles to compared to the others but one thing that winds me up is their poor mandatory process. What has Selby done at lightweight to warrant 2 final eliminators? And 2 in a row. Surely he needed to come back with a good win before he’s even considered? How can they justify him as being their 4th best lightweight contender. He hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years!

They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Their rules are pretty clear and they enforce them. For me there’s nothing wrong with that as people know where they stand.

They just have poor rankings in several divisions, have had many undeserving title challengers and they should drop guys down further in the rankings after they lose. No way should Selby be ranked 4th when he hasn’t won a fight in 2 years and lost his last one. Similar to Kid after he lost to Josh - he should have dropped further down the list.

The poor rankings really hit Brook too with the Bizier and Jo Jo Dan mandatories before they threw Spence at him.

Khan when he said "When I told Kell to be busier i didn't mean Kevin". I was at the Dan fight. Ringside with a cheap ticket. I don't even know why Eddie puts shows on there, except a couple. Just like Galahad was never going to half fill it. He must think it sounds good. I'd prefer a full Ponds Forge.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:50 Khan when he said "When I told Kell to be busier i didn't mean Kevin". I was at the Dan fight. Ringside with a cheap ticket. I don't even know why Eddie puts shows on there, except a couple. Just like Galahad was never going to half fill it. He must think it sounds good. I'd prefer a full Ponds Forge.

Same actually although I think I paid full price for the ticket! From memory it wasn’t empty but certainly wasn’t full. I remember the place going silent when Etches got blasted out. Four future world champs on the undercard too - I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that at the time.

The sad thing is due to the mandatory split Dan would have been very well paid for it. It’s just crazy he was so high up in the rankings to begin with.

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:59

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:50 Khan when he said "When I told Kell to be busier i didn't mean Kevin". I was at the Dan fight. Ringside with a cheap ticket. I don't even know why Eddie puts shows on there, except a couple. Just like Galahad was never going to half fill it. He must think it sounds good. I'd prefer a full Ponds Forge.

Same actually although I think I paid full price for the ticket! From memory it wasn’t empty but certainly wasn’t full. I remember the place going silent when Etches got blasted out. Four future world champs on the undercard too - I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that at the time.

The sad thing is due to the mandatory split Dan would have been very well paid for it. It’s just crazy he was so high up in the rankings to begin with.

Etches could sell. Like Harper.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27 They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Even though most boxing fans thought he was robbed Galahad wasn't given a rematch - he won a final eliminator to earn it.
Although Leeds fans were happy for Warrington to fight Takoucht and then blockade the belt by not fighting for over 16 months, the IBF recognised that this wasn't good for boxing.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:50 Khan when he said "When I told Kell to be busier i didn't mean Kevin".

When did he say that?

Pugilist-specialist wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 10:16

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27 They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Even though most boxing fans thought he was robbed Galahad wasn't given a rematch - he won a final eliminator to earn it.
Although Leeds fans were happy for Warrington to fight Takoucht and then blockade the belt by not fighting for over 16 months, the IBF recognised that this wasn't good for boxing.

But then what did Galahad do to deserve that final eliminator?

The Josh Taylor IBF mandatory was really bad as well not long ago.

GGG had some dreadful mandatories in his time too.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 10:26

But then what did Galahad do to deserve that final eliminator?

Controversial split decision in the champion's home town.

Pugilist-specialist wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 11:02

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 10:26

But then what did Galahad do to deserve that final eliminator?

Controversial split decision in the champion's home town.

Why not just order an immediate rematch.

It's wasn't a robbery was it?

Was a close decision though fair enough, that could have gone either way.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:15 I respect the IBF in that they enforce their rules and don’t have anywhere near as many interim or other titles to compared to the others but one thing that winds me up is their poor mandatory process. What has Selby done at lightweight to warrant 2 final eliminators? And 2 in a row. Surely he needed to come back with a good win before he’s even considered? How can they justify him as being their 4th best lightweight contender. He hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years!

They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Enforcing their mandatories is what gives the IBF some respectability.

Gnome wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 17:28

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:15 I respect the IBF in that they enforce their rules and don’t have anywhere near as many interim or other titles to compared to the others but one thing that winds me up is their poor mandatory process. What has Selby done at lightweight to warrant 2 final eliminators? And 2 in a row. Surely he needed to come back with a good win before he’s even considered? How can they justify him as being their 4th best lightweight contender. He hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years!

They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Enforcing their mandatories is what gives the IBF some respectability.

Like stripping Fury because he had a rematch clause within 2 days of beating Wlad?

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 18:10

Gnome wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 17:28

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 09:27
They enforce them too much. Giving Galahad a rematch with Josh that nobody wanted is just one example. They've been like it since The FBI collared them in the 80's.

Enforcing their mandatories is what gives the IBF some respectability.

Like stripping Fury because he had a rematch clause within 2 days of beating Wlad?

Tyson’s team could have applied for an exemption but didn’t seem to know about the upcoming mandatory so missed doing so.

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 18:20

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 18:10

Gnome wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 17:28
Enforcing their mandatories is what gives the IBF some respectability.

Like stripping Fury because he had a rematch clause within 2 days of beating Wlad?

Tyson’s team could have applied for an exemption but didn’t seem to know about the upcoming mandatory so missed doing so.

I'm sure they would have stripped AJ in the same circumstances....

Coco wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 19:17

maverick23 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 18:20

mickey1975 wrote: ↑04 Dec 2021, 18:10
Like stripping Fury because he had a rematch clause within 2 days of beating Wlad?

Tyson’s team could have applied for an exemption but didn’t seem to know about the upcoming mandatory so missed doing so.

I'm sure they would have stripped AJ in the same circumstances....

AJ’s team wouldn’t have let it get that far. There would have been an extension requested, followed by an exemption and if that didn’t work then they’d look to pay off the mandatory.

Same as Klitschko’s team would have done and Tyson’s current team would likely do.

Typical IBF doing IBF things.

As discussed. Selby hasn’t fought since his last eliminator, which he lost and he gets a another crack.

Keep forgetting about Selby

Oiky wrote: ↑17 Feb 2022, 14:15 Keep forgetting about Selby

Not giving us any reason to remember him is he?