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Fight Plans
Way to Victory for Kambosos
➤ Close the distance (Kambosos is stronger than Haney on the mid to close range)
➤ Pressure Haney constantly (a pressured Haney makes mistakes and tires)
➤ Volume punching
➤ Target openings (Haney constantly leaves gaps in his guard)
➤ Take away his jab
Way To Victory For Haney
➤ Keep Kambosos on the outside (Haney stronger than George on the outside, and it will force him to become reckless coming in)
➤ Catch Kambosos coming inside (because he became reckless)
➤ Stay off the ropes
➤ Freeze Kambosos with feints (you can hurt him this way)
➤ Overhand rights and rear uppercuts are Haney's best friends
Kambosos has to find a way to cut the distance. Parry's and his chaotic head movement will help, but his footwork as to be 100 percent in order to consistently get on the inside. He'll need to use angles and not just linear movement like he usually uses. It's a must. Kambosos also has to set the tempo of the fight immediately. His stamina needs to be at an all time hight for this fight. He has to pace himself, of course, but pace himself at the right tempo, which is a high tempo. Use Haney's extreme weight cut and time zone change to his advantage and tire him out so he's ripe for the pickin' come the latter half of the fight. Don't given Haney any quarter.
Kambosos is the faster puncher, no matter what some are saying. If there's a kryptonite for the pure boxer, it's "punches in bunches." Haney will slip, bob and weave or parry one or two punches, but punches three, four and five are going to get through. We saw this with Linares when he began to consistently close the distance. This is how Haney was wobbled and hurt several times in the fight.
Also, George has the superior timing to Haney, as we saw Haney struggle with his check hook against Diaz. He had a hard time getting Diaz's timing down unless Diaz was standing right in front of him. Kambosos's timing will help him out with some of the finer things in boxing, such as taking away his opponent's weapons. In this case, it would be the jab. If you recall with Lopez, he used his control of distance and a nasty check hook to make it so Lopez didn't really feel comfortable throwing it. He also has a wicked uppercut that he might find a good home for as Haney does hang on the front foot at times, especially when he ducks down (he almost always ducks below the belt, which is something that's illegal). Haney drops his right hand a lot, without noticing it. These are all big holes to be exploited, and I don't doubt George will exploit them with his fast hands and excellent timing.
Haney must keep his jab pumping out there constantly. (Think Kovalev vs Canelo). He must not let Kambosos get on the inside and has to stay off the ropes. Using his footwork and reach is a must, and it's something that he's excellent at. If he gets drawn into a war with George, he'll be playing into George's hands. This is what George wants, and he's been trying to get under Haney's skin for a month now to force Haney to fight him as he did Linares. If Haney sticks to this plan as long as he can, he'll have rounds in the bank.
Haney will also have to use feints a lot of he wants to be successful. Geoge has a tendency to freeze on the feints, which can leave him open to an overhand or straight. This is how Haney can actually hurt George. It's going to be off of a successful feinting George into getting out of position. If he does this, George will be a sitting duck for an overhand, which is Haney's best punch. George also leans on his front foot. This is not a mistake, but if Haney can be savvy enough, he should be able to catch up with his rear uppercut, which is his second best punch.
The Intangibles
Who has the greater WILL to win? Who can enforce the game plan? As someone who has made that trip to Australia, I can tell you that two weeks is really cutting it close and really isn't enough time to acclimate fully. I do believe that this, combined with the weight cut, is going to leave Haney slow and sluggish in the latter half of the fight. Expect Haney to fade at the back end and George to really impose himself. I think George might edge it but don't be surprised if George breaks Haney down late and drops him.
Prediction
George by a close decision unless he breaks Haney down and drops him late.
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