George Kambosos has experienced it all. 

The thrill of unlikely victory, and the agony of disappointing defeat. 

The top dog in one of boxing’s most star-studded divisions, and back to square one. 

For the 30-year-old Australian, it’s finally time for a new chapter. 

“I’ve been able to take a bit of time, after the three big fights that I had within a year,” Kambosos (20-2), who is set to return to the ring Saturday night against Maxi Hughes (26-5-2) as Top Rank’s main event (10 p.m., ESPN) in a 12-round IBF lightweight eliminator at the Fire Lake Arena in Shawnee Okla., told The Post. 

“Just sit back, refresh, let the body heal, and come back when the right time was, and that’s right now. I feel great.” 

Kambosos’ last three bouts have defined the lightweight division’s recent history. 

In Nov. 2021, Kambosos stunned Teofimo Lopez – who was making his first title defense after securing his own Upset of the Year win over the legendary Vasiliy Lomachenko – by split decision to win the WBA, WBO and IBF unified lightweight world title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.  

With three of the four belts at 135 pounds, Kambosos became the division’s gatekeeper with the most power to dictate its future, and decided to take on Lomachenko in his first unified title defense. 

But a native of Ukraine, Russia’s invasion into the nation and subsequent war prompted Lomachenko to return to his homeland.

Kambosos pivoted to Devin Haney, who owned the WBC belt at the time – meaning the June 2022 bout would be for the undisputed lightweight title. 

In his native Australia, however, Kambosos lost to Haney by unanimous decision, relinquishing his titles in the process and marking the first defeat of his professional career.

He had a rematch clause and the two fought again in Australia four months later for the same stakes, but Kambosos again lost by unanimous decision. 

Three title fights within a year, with results leaving Kambosos on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. 

A stretch that began with glory, ended with Kambosos back on the outside looking in on the title conversation.

Though he came up short in his ultimate quest, Kambosos is confident it’ll only fuel what’s about to come. 

“I take a lot of confidence,” Kambosos said. “Especially from the Haney fights. We’re talking about a guy who’s a natural 140-147 pounder, and probably one of the most pure boxers in the last 20 years. So to be able to go in there, and do what I did, especially in that second fight, we’d never seen Devin split up on the eye, bleeding mouth, some of the shots I was landing, the punishing shots. I take a lot of confidence. 

“From a loss, or two losses to the same guy, I’d never take anything negative from it. I’m not a guy that takes negative from any kind of failure in life. You learn from it. These are learning processes and things that you say ‘OK, I’ll take the good with it, I’ll take the confidence from it, and I’ll learn from it and become a better fighter.’” 

Specifically, Kambosos claims the losses to Haney revealed mistakes he was making with his timing and speed. 

When watching them back, Kambosos and his team realized he was rushing his punches and combinations against Haney, who exploited it with his movement and reach. 

Long one of the fastest in the division, Kambosos’ team told him “you’re too fast for your own good, that’s your problem.” 

By pulling back just a bit, Kambosos believes he’s now more pinpoint while still maintaining his trademark speed advantage. 

Perhaps taking a step backwards has helped Kambosos unlock a new, potentially more dangerous level to his game. 

A veteran southpaw, Kambosos thinks Hughes is the perfect opponent on which to unveil it. 

“When we looked at the Lopez and Haney fights, looking at these guys who are pound-for-pound top ten, elite fighters like myself, trying to find the minute mistakes they make is so difficult,” Kambosos said. 

“When you put a guy like Hughes, a guy that is smaller than I am, keeps his hands nice and tight, he’s a southpaw, he’s a guy from the U.K. who tries to throw his shots, we can see everything. We can see the holes everywhere. It’s refreshing.” 

More than anything, Kambosos believes the biggest change has been in his mentality. 

Or rather, the return of a mentality he had before the Lopez fight, and one that had gone missing his last two bouts against Haney. 

“You would’ve never got me in this kind of mood before the Haney fights,” Kambosos said. “Especially the first fight, I was there promoting the fight and more focused on selling tickets. 

“The second fight, I was just in a different kind of mood. But now, I’m happy. I’m relaxed… There is nothing better than a fighter who has that confidence, when they know they’ve done the work, when they know they’re on weight. Bring it on.”