Devin Haney outpoints George Kambosos, rematch in the works

It was a great day to be a Greek in Australia. Up until the halfway point of the undisputed lightweight championship fight between George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-1 (10) and Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 28-0 (15) at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday afternoon.

American Haney, 23, was simply too classy for his Aussie opponent, landing his jab at will and showing superior ring IQ.

The 28-year-old Kambosos from Sydney never seemed to figure out the rhythm and rhyme to Haney’s movement before capitulating his WBA, WBO and IBF titles to the WBC champ.

In front of a reported crowd of more than 41,000 people – many of them Greek-Australians – Kambosos started well enough, but always seemed a step off the pace.

Haney did what Haney does. He stuck the jab. He hit the body with the right hand. He used his clever footwork to avoid any real danger. Rinse and repeat.

Kambosos continued to look for the overhand right throughout the fight despite having limited success with that punch. He tried the left hook too, but didn’t fare any better.

Perhaps the best punches landed by Kambosos were to the body, but Haney had an answer for everything. Most of the time it was a stiff left jab.

It was a tactical battle but there was one clear winner. Haney by scores of 116-112 twice and 118-110.

“I was just sticking to the game plan. The game plan was to go there and hit and not get hit and I did that for the majority of the fight. I took the last round off just because I knew I was comfortably ahead, but I fought a good, smart fight,” Haney said.

“I handicapped him of his best things. He wanted to land the overhand right and he wanted to land the big left hook. I handicapped him. I was fighting both ways. When I would go to the left, I would fight his right hand. When I would go to the right, I would fight his left hook. And he couldn’t hit me with neither one of them.

“I take my hat off to him because he is a true warrior. I respect anybody that steps into the ring. There was nothing but respect through the whole build up. Even though he got disrespectful, I stayed as a gentleman. I stayed professional.”

“I want to thank George Kambosos and all of Australia for coming out. Thank you, George, for giving me the shot. All of these so-called champions would not give me my shot. But George was a true champion and he gave me my shot. Thank you for this.”

Kambosos, who has a rematch clause in his contract, was magnanimous in defeat.

“This was amazing for the sport,” said Kambosos. “It was amazing for the country. At the end of the day, I wanted to take the best and hardest tests.

“I’m going to give him full respect after his victory today. Let him have his time and we’ll do it again.

“I have to implement a few things, but I thought the fight was very close. I’m not going to wreck his moment. I’ll let him have his moment. Last November, my moment was wrecked, so let’s let him have his moment and I’ll see you again real soon.”