Devin Haney couldn’t care less about the oddsmakers’ take on his fight with George Kambosos Jr. because Haney has his own handicapping plan in mind.
The unbeaten WBC world lightweight champion promised during a split-site press conference Thursday night in the United States that he’ll take away all of Kambosos’ best attributes and handle him comfortably June 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Now that their 12-round, 135-pound championship unification fight has been officially announced, FanDuel has established Haney as nearly a 2-1 favorite, even though he’ll travel to Kambosos’ home country for a main event ESPN will televise the night of June 4 in the United States.
“I think George is a great fighter, and I’ve been asking for the top fighters for a while now,” Haney said from a studio in Los Angeles. “And I finally have, you know, gotten one of them that’s in their prime, that’s coming off the biggest win of their career. So, I’m happy about that. But what I will do is go in there and handicap George of his [strengths]. The things that he does best, I will take away from him and make it a easy night.”
Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) wanted this opportunity so badly that the 23-year-old Oakland native agreed to an immediate rematch clause that would require him to battle Sydney’s Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) in Australia again if he wins June 5. The Las Vegas resident’s agreement with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Lou DiBella, Kambosos’ promoter, obligates Haney to at least three fights with them on ESPN or ESPN Pay-Per-View even if he beats Kambosos and vacates the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles to move up to the 140-pound division.
A capacity crowd in excess of 50,000 is expected to pack Marvel Stadium to watch the card headlined by Kambosos-Haney. In addition to ESPN’s broadcast in the U.S., Foxtel Main Event, the only pay-per-view distributor in Australia, will offer the card throughout that continent.
“Thank you to all of the fans that’s tuning in,” Haney said. “All the fans in Australia, all the fans in the U.S. All of George’s fans, all of my fans. You know, without you guys this fight wouldn’t have been able to get made. So, I wanna say thank you [to] you guys for that. And tune in June 5th. It’s gonna be a hell of a fight. The biggest fight of the year, by far, and it’s for all the marbles. So, you know, it will finally be a king of the lightweight division and it will be me.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
