'No Mas Chenko' returns: Vasiliy Lomachenko conjures up the old days in 11th round stoppage of outgunned George Kambosos

The biggest challenge Vasiliy Lomachenko faced on Saturday at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, during his bout for the IBF lightweight title with George Kambosos was getting back to the locker room after he won by stoppage at. 2:49 of the 11th round. The 36-year-old Lomachenko was mobbed by the Australian fans on his way back to the dressing room after a vintage performance reminscent of his halcyon days from 2016 to 2019, when he sat atop the sport.

Kambosos didn't present much of a problem for Lomachenko on Saturday (Sunday in Australia) and went out after a vicious body assault in the final round that saw him twice take a knee. Referee Katsuhiko Nakamura stopped it the second time Kambosos took a knee, just as his corner threw in the towel acknowledging its surrender.

“It looked like a knockout today, not ‘No Mas Chenko,' " Lomachenko said. But, you know, we trained hard for this moment. I want to thank my opponent. He is a strong man and a true warrior.”

Lomachenko led 99-91 twice and 98-92 in a vintage performance. He was dubbed 'No Mas Chenko' by Hall of Fame publicist Fred Sternburg after he made Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and the great Guillermo Rigondeaux quit in succession in 2016 and 2017. Lomachenko connected on 50 percent of his power punches, per CompuBox, closed. Kambosos' right eye and generally gave him a master class in boxing.

It was a reminder of his glory days in a division now led by the likes of Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, Frank Martin and, potentially, William Zepeda.

Kambosos simply wasn't in Lomachenko's class and, truth be told, he never was. He was a solid journeyman who had the fight of his life in 2021 against Teofimo Lopez on a night that Lopez faced a life-threatening illness. But since the win over Lopez, he's lost twice to Devin Haney, gotten a gift win over Maxi Hughes and was pummeled by Lomachenko.

But he recognized that even had he raised his game several levels on Saturday that it wouldn't have been enough against Lomachenko.

"He’s one of the best fighters in history," Kambosos said. "So, I’m not ashamed. I wanted to finish the fight on my feet. I wanted to finish the rounds like I always do. But there’s no shame in losing to a man like Lomachenko."

It was a battle of the southpaw Lomachenko against the conventional fighter Kambosos, and footwork is always a key. In that regard, though, it was no contest, as Kambosos' footwork is some of the best in the sport's history. He moved forward most of the night, attacking and battering Kambosos to the head before going to the body at the finish, yet, he still largely negated Kambosos' offense.

Lomachenko wasn't running or avoiding the fight, yet Kambosos never hit double digits in connects in any rounds. According to CompuBox, he landed 3-1-7-1-2-6-4-4-5-1-2 punches, and aside from a couple of digs to the body,never did anything that caused Lomachenko much concern.

Lomachenko is not the sort to boast, and he maintains. an impassive look about him, but it was clear he wanted the finish. He hadn't finished an opponent since a ninth-round stoppage of Masayoshi Nakatani on June 26, 2021, in Las Vegas, and he went for it hard on Saturday.

He landed a pair of straight lefts to the body in the 11th and each of them forced Kambosos to take a knee. The second of them caused the fight to be stopped.

“My plan was to adjust to my opponent," Lomachenko said. "This is what I did during the fight. I knew I needed to finish strong. And in the last three rounds, I was trying to find his body.”