By Dan Ambrose: Devin Haney has revealed on Sunday that he’s in negotiations with George Kambosos Jr. for a fight in Australia in April. Haney (27-0, 15 KOs), who holds the WBC lightweight title, voiced his impatience in the negotiations, questioning whether the four-belt 135-lb champion Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) wants the fight.
According to Haney, he’s agreed to all the terms that the 28-year-old IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Kambosos has asked of him, mentioning travel and vaccine.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated says Haney has already received his first dose of a two-shot regimen for his COVID 19 vaccine needed for him to travel to Australia to face Kambosos.
Haney, 23, isn’t saying what the hold-up is in the negotiations, but perhaps Kambosos has another offer for the fight.
Given how shaky Kambosos is as a champion, he must get the best deal possible because his 15 minutes of fame as the undisputed lightweight champion likely end in April when he defends the four straps for the first time.
It’s not a surprise that Kambosos and his promoter Lou DiBella are going in the direction of a fight against Haney rather than Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or Vasily Lomachenko.
It’s a winnable fight for him. Kambosos’ chances of beating Tank or Lomachenko would be tiny.
Yo @georgekambosos we making this fight happen or what? i’m agreeing to all you’re terms weather its the vaccine or the travel. Its starting to look like some ducking going on! @EddieHearn
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) January 16, 2022
“Haney told @SInow that he has received one shot of a two-dose COVID regiment and intends to get the second, a requirement for fighting in Australia,” said Chris Mannix.
The disappointing thing about Haney getting the fight with Kambosos rather than Gervonta Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, or Ryan Garcia is that Devin plans on moving up to the 140-lb division immediately afterward.
As such, this will be a catch & release situation for Haney. He’s fishing for Kambosos’ four straps, using money as his lure to catch the big fish from Australia, and then he’s going to vacate the belts after winning.
So instead of having an undisputed champion at 135, the belts will be scattered, and it’ll create a free-for-all among the lightweight contenders to grab the.
It would be better if Lomachenko or Ryan were the ones facing Kambosos because, at then, they would likely hold onto the belts and defend them after they defeated him.
It would be interesting to know how much money Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing is offering Kambosos for Devin to be getting this fight in April.
Offering the fight to the highest bidder means that Kambosos will get paid well, but that won’t improve his chances of winning.
If Kambosos wanted to milk his four lightweight titles and ensure that he stays champion for longer than just one fight, he should be going in the direction of defending against Ryan Garcia. He’s by far the weakest of the four fighters mentioned initially as options for Kambosos’ first – and likely only – defense of his titles.
This writer would pick Ryan to beat Kambosos because he’s a better fighter and would catch him with his left hook smash to get a knockout at some point in the fight.
The way the injured & weight drained Teofimo had Kambosos tottering on the brink of a knockout in the tenth, Ryan would get him to that point much earlier in the fight and then finish him. Teofimo couldn’t finish the job due to his poor stamina and throat injury.
Ryan will be taking a tune-up in April, and he could be facing Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. unless Dan Rafael’s sources are correct with them telling him that Mercito Gesta and Saul Rodriguez are the two names King Ry is looking at facing next.
Kambosos defeated Teofimo Lopez by a 12 round split decision in an upset win on November 27th at Madison Square Garden in New York. Teofimo was coming off a 13-month layoff, COVID-19 illness, and was reportedly injured with a throat problem for the fight.
On top of that, Kambosos appeared badly weight drained after the weigh-in after draining down from near 160 lbs of pure muscle to 135 to make weight. Teofimo would likely stop Kambosos if they met for a rematch at 140.