'Sky is the limit': George Kambosos Jnr's road to boxing stardom

"I was an overweight kid, I was bullied at school. I used to weigh, at 11 years of age, the same that I fight at now, which is 61 kilos," 27-year-old Kambosos said.

That was the start of Kambosos' "hard road" to boxing stardom, which has him on the precipice of a world title shot against Teofimo Lopez (16-0) and the American lightweight's three versions of the world championship in a stadium event in Australia next year.

The card may boast layers of intrigue for fans around the globe. Tim Tszyu's name has been mentioned, so too a rematch between Andrew Moloney and Joshua Franco for the WBA super lightweight title.

For 19-0 Kambosos, it is a chance to build a legacy that would see him go down as one of the nation's greats.

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"I had it the hard way as a young kid before I fell into boxing. I really had to earn it, not only in the boxing world but as a young kid being bullied and picked on, coming last in everything I did," Kambosos said.

"There has never been an easy journey, and I didn't want an easy journey. If I wanted an easy journey, I would have taken easy fights, I could have stayed in Australia. It's been a long, hard road.

"That's why I tell all of these young guys, take the hard road, take the risk, if you lose then you pick yourself up after it and re-evaluate after the loss. But if you win, it's going to be even better.

"That's all we've done. I'm not afraid of taking an L, it is what it is, it's a part of the game. I'm just so hungry and focused, I'm on the road to becoming a unified world champion."

Lopez was inside San Antonio's Alamodome to watch Canelo Alvarez claim the WBC and WBA Super world super middleweight championships from the clutches of Callum Smith on Sunday [AEDT].

There he was asked about the prospect of defending his own titles against Kambosos in Australia and offered little more than a "wait and see", before telling WBC title holder Devin Haney to "show me something".

"You want to come at me, you better be ready. That's all I've got to say for everybody coming in 2021," Lopez said.

"I'm coming out there to take your head off, and that's on God."

A potential world title bout in Australia would mark Kambosos' first fight on home soil since 2017. In the years since he has plied his trade in iconic venues like Madison Square Garden and Wembley Arena, from Kuala Lumpur to Athens to Las Vegas.

This is a man who has come a long way since a debut inside a Croatian Club in Punchbowl, where cigarette smoke swirled in the air and the sounds of poker machines rung around the premises.

"The plan was always to go to the US, do what I had to do, earn my spot, and then come back to Australia for the big one. We're there now, this is the big one, this is the biggest one in history in Australia," Kambosos said.

"When was the last time a unified world champion came to Australia to defend his belts, there's never been one. We have so much self-belief, and we know what we're about.

"Win this fight and go down in history as the best fighter ever in Australia, that's the goal now. We've gone from being a NSW state champion to an Australian champion to a regional title holder, top 15 in the world, top 10, top five, No. 1 in the world.

"Now I want to fight the world champion."