By Jack Tiernan: WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants to put together an undisputed clash against newly crowned IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO 135-lb champion George Kambosos Jr. in Sydney, Australia or Las Vegas if Devin wins his December 4th fight against Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr.
Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) pulled off a massive upset last Saturday night with his 12 round split decision win over four-belt lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs) in the headliner on DAZN at Madison Square Garden [MSG] in New York City.
Going into the fight, Hearn, who’s Matchroom Boxing promotional company put on the Teofimo-Kambosos event, had hoped of setting up a battle between Teofimo and WBC 135-lb champion Haney next for the undisputed lightweight championship if both guys win their battles.
Now that Teofimo has lost to Kambosos, Hearn wants to set up a fight between the Australian fighter and Haney, provided Devin wins his match against Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr. next Saturday, December 4th in Las Vegas.
Hearn will have a lot of competition to try and get a fight against Kambosos, though, as Ryan Garcia has already called the Australian out. Likely, WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Vasily Lomachenko will call him out as well.
Additionally, Teofimo may choose to ask for a rematch, which would be significant given the way he was outworked and beaten up by Kambosos.
“He was brilliant, Kambosos. He showed so much bottle, and in the tenth, he was gone,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV on Kambosos’ win over Teofimo Lopez. “He came back and won the eleventh, won the twelfth, and I had him winning by two rounds.
“The obvious thing is to fight Devin Haney for all the belts. That’s the fight, but Devin has got to beat Jojo [Diaz Jr] next week. You just had a situation there where the underdog [Kambosos] just won, so Devin has got to be switched on.
“I’d love to work with George [Kambosos] and take him [Haney] to Australia. That’s the dream. They come from Australia and beat Teofimo Lopez to win all the belts. It’s unbelievable.
“I thought would Teofimo overlook him, would he struggle with the weight and tire in the fight. He did tire in the fight, but then he came on strong in nine and ten.
“George looked gone in the tenth but then came back and won the eleventh and the twelfth. I think it was the biggest win for an Australian fighter of all time,” said Hearn of Kambosos’ improbable upset 12 round split decision win over Teofimo.
“He’s [Haney] is going to get Tank [Gervonta Davis] or whoever. Everyone is going to want to fight him [if he beats Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr on December 4th]. They’ll think they can beat George Kambosos.
“Listen, the kid [Kambosos] is going to make a fortune. He’s cracked it, and good luck to him, but hopefully, it’s the Devin Haney fight. Hopefully, he can win the final belt, and he believes he can win that. We’ll do it in Vegas, or we’ll do it in Sydney [Australia], it doesn’t matter.
“Kambosos is a diamond. Proper underdog win, King of Australia,” Hearn continued. I didn’t think he could do it, and I didn’t think he could fight that kind of fight against Teofimo Lopez.
