By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Undisputed lightweight world champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (in Los Angeles) and “Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr. (in Melbourne) participated on a split feed kick-off press conference to kickoff their October 15 (October 16 in Australia) rematch at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Haney-Kambosos 2 will be broadcast in prime time in the United States, live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+ and live on Main Event and Kayo in Australia.
While the first fight was one-sided in Haney’s favor, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum says George Kambosos warns people not to count out Kambosos.
“If he approaches the fight differently, he has a good, good chance,” Arum said to FoxSports. “If he fights the same fight that he fought last time, he has no chance. We’ll have to see which George Kambosos shows up. The one who fought and beat Teofimo Lopez or the one who fought from the outside and wasn’t aggressive against Devin Haney.”
“Why do a rematch? I go back to history? I remember that Joe Frazier dominated Muhammad Ali in their first fight. And when the rematch came, Ali clearly was the better man and won the rematch.
“More recently, Sugar Ray Leonard facing Roberto Duran in Montreal lost to Duran convincingly and five months later when they did the rematch, Leonard proved to be the superior fighter and not only won the fight, but made Durant quit. So rematches can be even more interesting than the original fight.
“I really believe both fighters are going to bring this and give a great, great fight to the public, not only all the fans in Melbourne, but the millions of people watching around the world.”
Did Arum just compare Kambosos to Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali? If there was ever sacrilege in boxing this is it.
He also said lomachenko surpassed Ali after 5 fights. Dude isn’t right in the head, probably dementia.
Absolutely no need for this as first fight was void of controversy and a one-sided decision.
Too bad cause Haney should be in the mix for a big name opponent not fighting this club fighter/fringe contender again.
Glad to see Haney keep his word and I see the same outcome.
Haneys word had nothing to do with it.
Same result though.
Problem for Kambosos is, he’ll leave himself open for Haneys other punches besides the jab if he’s more aggressive like he was against Teo, and he knows this. He cant get past Haney’s jab. Not looking forward to this one, different venue, same result. The fights to make at Lightweight re Haney/Lomachencko and Davis/Garcia(if he can make the weight) and the winners facing off for all the titles.
Kambosos truly thought he could barrel through Haney like he did against Lopez. Hmmm… Whole different style of fighting comparing the two. The whole purpose of this rematch is the fine print on the contract where Kambosos’ lawyers said immediate rematch should he lose. Not quite sure the ticket sales will be as high this time since Kambosos was schooled in the first fight. The hype is just not there now.
It ain’t rocket science when facing such a strong jab. Hit what you can to stop it from coming! Hook the tricep or forearm. Hit the shoulders that are rolling. Hit the bicep. take away the weapon and then go to work
not necessary at this time. nobody wants to see this rematch, except Kambosos. but if its on espn regular cable, sure…
The results will be the same as their first fight
I see many thumbs down in posts telling the truth about this nonsense rematch, is Kambosos posting in here?
To all the promotors – Just because a fight is a rematch does not mean it is good and the fans want to see it.
I fail to understand that besides the financial aspect, what else is going to change. Kambosos has his style well defined which was clearly exploited by Haney, I don’t see how Kambosos can beat Haney.
1st off neither the Frazier / Ali fight nor the Duran / Leonard fight were blowouts ; BOTH close decisions…not sure Kambosos won more than 2 rounds !!
Not just close but wars as well and probably the 2 most highly anticipated fights in history at least in my lifetime. Had to have a rematch for those 2.
Yes a 1980 rematch is “more recent” than a Ali 1974 rematch. Bob, you can think of “more recent” examples than 42 and 48 years ago. I get his love fest for all things Ali, we recognize the greatness… Just in 2022 Top Rank is on pace for 2 dozen shows. He watches from the front rows. Hopefully he can reference a good fight from the last 22-32 years..
Fight plays out the same. They could fight five times, same result.
No need for a second fight! It will be same result, a one sided beat down! On the other hand, kambo may get his last very nice check of his career with this fight. I doubt kambo can go toe to toe with the hungry lions of this division!