Most of the trash talk is over. It is nearly time. WBO/IBF/WBA lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) and WBC champion Devin Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) are two days away from their showdown for the undisputed title at Marvel Stadium. The fight, Sunday local time and airing Saturday evening in the United States, is one of the biggest bouts ever on Australian soil.
More than 40,000 fans are expected, as the 23-year-old Haney attempts to make history more than 8,000 miles from home. Kambosos, from Sydney, Australia, is back home and attempting to score his second straight upset following last November’s title-winning thriller over Teofimo Lopez.
At Thursday’s press conference, this is what the fighters had to say.
GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR.
“It has been a long, hard journey. Everyone knows that, but I’m ready for Sunday. All the tough moments have gotten me ready for Sunday, and I will shock the world again. Underdog? Beautiful. We are ready.”
“I’ve been through it all, so whatever comes to the table on Sunday, we’ll be ready. We’ll be fully prepared. We are warriors. Whatever way we have to go, we are prepared.”
On the mental warfare against Haney
“I’m just having fun. I’m enjoying the moment. I’m just talking the truth. If it has or hasn’t affected him, so be it. We’ll step in there on Sunday, and that’s where it matters.”
“I have visualized victory by any means. I have manifested everything, every part of this journey. They said that we would never be here, but only two people really believed it, me and my father. So, I manifested my victory, and I visualize victory by any means on Sunday.”
“I love the underdog status. They’ve been against me my whole career. They’ve been saying that my whole career. I’m still the top dog, and after Sunday, I’ll remain the top dog.”
DEVIN HANEY
“This is the biggest stage, but this is something that I have dreamed of. I knew that one day I would be here, but I didn’t think that it would come this early, but I’m thankful. It’s time.”
“I knew that he would try anything that he can to try to throw me off my game or get me unfocused. But he can say what he wants to say, because regardless I’m going to do what I do when we step into the ring. I will come out victorious by any means.”
“A win would be very satisfying because that means I did it against all odds, even when things weren’t working in my favor. They were trying to do anything they can to put me at a disadvantage. But when I come out on top, it’s going to be that much sweeter. I look forward to bringing the belts back and showing my dad what we accomplished together.”
“I feel like I’m the far better fighter. I have far more skills than him. I will show him on Sunday. It’s for me to show in the ring. The betting odds really don’t matter because I will show you no matter what they say. I’m levels above him.”
Not sure if it’s just me, but time is flying. It seems like the fight was signed 2 weeks ago and here we are, fight time in less than 48 hours.
This has all the reasons and ingredients to be a great fight. Not Hayne’s biggest fan, but considering his skill level and pedigree, he should win. Not big, but a win nonetheless.
However, I will not dismiss Kambosos fighting at home in a dream come true fight. Can Kambosos get just as or even more motivated than the Lopez fight?
Hayne’s key will be the jab and footwork. Taking half step counters between shots to interrupt Kambosos’ flow is a must. Hayne must land big and often in order to control that crowd.
For Kambosos will be getting past the jab and finishing with a looping right, being fired at the end of a combo with his head just at or below chest level.
I hope that no one is seriously hurt. Let’s get it on.
Crystal clear is that main part of Kambosos fight plan will be rough Haney up, crowd him relentlessly. Haney will overcome this and after 6 or 7 rounds he should be dominant, maybe a swollen eye on Kambosos would prompt an stoppage late on the fight, or perhaps his immense heart would help him to finish the fight losing by UD
Not sure how it is all stacked against Haney? He gets a nice outdoors stadium with a big crowd, and he’ll get that a 2nd time with a win. So if he wins and the crowd wasn’t hating on him before, during, after the fight, it’s a plus. Next time, if his father can’t get a visa again, he has more time to pick a trainer instead of being given Yoel Judah by default.
He’s seems pretty confident of victory. And his dad wants for him to do the fight a 2nd time with a win.
It really depends if the Melbourne crowd is really against him, it depends if they don’t like the style he uses to chase victory. But maybe an Aussie boxing crowd will be against him regardless.
If plenty of Kambosos’s Sydney fans caught a flight down to Melbourne for the, that is a plus for Kambosos.
It sucks Haney had to agree to a rematch clause to happen in Ireland to make the fight happen. Kam got the belts and became a real Prim donna. Team Kam did the best they could to get out of the fight. But couldnt get out of it without looking bad. Same happened with Jojo Diaz. Especially with Haney agreeing to all his crazy terms to make this fight happen.
I aint mad at Kam, he milking his moment for all its worth. But he will see why he was avoided by Lopez, Loma, and Diaz. I like Kam as a fighter but supporting the home fighter to bring the titles back to the US. Kam has a big opportunity to become a huge star in the game, and they would surely put him on the P4P list. Just Like they did for Fury. May the best man win!!!
That’s why I’m really pulling for Haney. He had to agree to ridiculous terms because Kam’s team doesn’t really believe.
L0L I’ll explain the obvious? “Stacked against him” meaning, he took a significant pay cut to get this fight even thought he should be getting more because its a big fight, he had to sign with Arum. The fight wasn’t getting signed unless he agreed to take a rematch should Kam lose in Australia, his father was not allowed into the country even though his conviction was 30 years ago and obviously he has to worry about unfair judges.
How are the Aussies treating him good if they didn’t let the most important person in his life (his trainer/father) into the country due to a drug conviction that happened 30 years ago in the U.S? That seems very suspect to me. Keep your guard up, Devin; literally and figuratively.
Are you suggesting Australia change its laws – whether you like them or not – just for the fight?
travel all those miles to defend your title and a rematch clause give haney all the credit which ever way the fight goes he is a confident wish his dad was there tough break haney may need a tko or ko
Well the wait is over! All the BS has hopefully come to an end and it’s to RUMBLE!! Hopefully the fight lives up to the HYPE!!
How will Kambosos deal with all the emotions and exitement of 40,000 thousand fans? I recall JCC fighting in Azteca statium and Sergio Martinez fighting in a football stadium in Argentina. Saying that they got so pumped from the energy of the crown, they lost focus of the fight and by the early rounds after the adrenalin rush, they felt out of gas. If Kambosos can feed in the best way of the nergy of the crown it will make things very interesting. I believe that Haney is by far the best pure boxer and can easily outbox Kambosos, never the less Kambosos has proven he is a worthy champion and won’t be and easy fight for Haney.
Well, Colson, so much for that theory; just looking at a recent headline on Fightnews, Australia just did “change their laws for a fight”, as Bill Haney is now allowed to enter the country. Laws get changed all the time to fit whatever narrative is being pushed. Its not about whether I make a suggestion or not, my voice matters very little to the powers at be.
Easy work for Haney.
Not so easy work for Haney’s surgeon after the fight to repair his face from being smashed the rest of the way in. May need a nose ring and a tow rope.