Devin Haney wants to claw back what he believes he willingly forfeited in his fight with George Kambosos Jr. for all four lightweight titles.
Haney, who defeated Kambosos in Kambosos’ homeland of Australia last month to become the undisputed 135-pound champion, suggested in a recent interview that his rematch with the Aussie was not a sure thing and that the bone of contention may be regarding his compensation. In order to fight Kambosos, Haney had to agree to an immediate rematch—in Australia, once more—in the event that he defeated Kambosos. Haney outclassed Kambosos over 12 rounds to win a comfortable unanimous decision.
Recently, Kambosos declared he had activated his rematch clause for a fight to take place in the fall.
But Haney (28-0, 15 KOs), who agreed to strict stipulations put forward by Lou DiBella, Kambosos’ promoter, and Top Rank, has consistently stated that he accepted a relatively modest paycheck in the first fight, a concession that his team claimed they were all too happy to accept in order to get the opportunity. Now, as the undisputed champion, Haney believes a rematch needs, from a financial perspective, to reflect his new status.
“I took the short end of the stick (in the first fight),” Haney told FightHype.com. “I took less money for me and my team to go over there, against all odds, and we came out victorious—like he did against Teo[fimo Lopez]. You know, at the end of the day he (Kambosos) got paid well. He did good.
“If you want us to come back, you gotta do the right thing to get me and my team there again.”
Haney, 23, insisted that he will be fighting in October and that it may not necessarily involve Kambosos, despite the fact that the Las Vegan denizen is contractually obligated to do so. Haney’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, suggested recently that Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs) might be better off fighting a tune-up before heading into an immediate rematch with Haney, given how comprehensively Haney had defeated Kambosos.
“We just gotta see what’s next,” Haney said of the Kambosos rematch. “We don’t know. We’re weighing our options. Possibly, possibly not. We just gotta wait and see what makes the most sense for me and my team. That’s what’s next. But [in] October I will be fighting. But we don’t know who yet.”
“They can come over here (in the United States) and get it,” Haney continued. “Or, if we do go over there it just gotta make sense for us to go back. You know what that means by ‘make sense.’”