By Matt Lieberman: Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr. could be meeting for the undisputed lightweight championship in May in Australia. That’s what WBC 135-lb champion Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn said on Wednesday.
If the Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn can get the deal done, Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) will travel to Australia to face Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) for his IBF, WBA, & WBO lightweight titles in May.
Haney, 23, says he has no interest in Kambosos’ Franchise belt. He only wants the other three titles in Kambosos’ collection so that he can claim the distinction of being the undisputed lightweight champion.
The Top Rank-promoted Vasily Lomachenko is still a potential option for Kambosos to fight, but it’s going to require a significant offer on his promoter’s part to make it worthwhile for the Australian fighter to go in that direction.
Kambosos will have home advantage
“It’s the fight. You’ve got the whole debacle about who is undisputed and who is the champion,” said Hearn to MMA Hour on a possible fight between Haney and Kambosos.
“The only way we can solve that is by those two fighting each other. It’s a natural fight,” Hearn continued about a possible Kambosos Jr. vs. Haney clash.
“Devin has agreed to go to Australia for that fight into the backyard of George Kambosos. We’ve got to make it happen. I love George, a great guy. A brilliant win against Teofimo [Lopez] at the Garden [in New York], and he wants his fight in Australia,” Hearn said.
The benefit of a fight between Haney and Kambosos is the winner will hold all four belts in the lightweight division, and there will no longer be any guesswork on who is the #1 guy.
If the Kambosos-Haney winner elects to stay at 135, they can defend their four belts against these excellent fighters:
- Ryan Garcia
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis
- Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
- Isaac Cruz
Former WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt is moving up to 135 in his next fight, and we could soon have Shakur Stevenson and Jamel Herring goingup as well.
“He’s like a network free agent,” Hearn said of Kambosos. “There’s two fights for him [Kambosos]. There’s Lomachenko on ESPN and there’s the Haney fight for DAZN.
“I think they’ll [Team Kambosos] think Haney is more beatable than Lomachenko, and he’s got that belt that will answer all the questions about undisputed,” Hearn.
Kambosos, 28, might be a little too inexperienced for a fighter Lomachenko right now. If Loma is 100% healthy, he’s hard to beat for anyone in the division, particularly a green fighter like Kambosos.
The Australian fighter beat Teofimo Lopez Jr. last November, but it was an ideal situation for Kambosos. Teofimowas injured, weight drained, and coming off a year layoff.
“George has no fear,” said Hearn. “George will fight any of those guys, and hopefully, Devin Haney gets the call so then we can have one clear champion in the division,” said Hearn.
Kambosos seems less motivated on the idea of becoming undisputed at 135 than getting the best possible deal. Haney’s promoter needs to make sure he understands what’s really important to Kambosos because he’s not going to persuade him to fight Haney by pushing the undisputed angle over the money.
“May, I think again for Haney and Kambosos. The numbers have started to pick up in Australia for COVID, so it’s kind of put April out of the equation,” said Hearn.
“I think May time. Devin was here last night. He’s 23-years-old. He can really fight. think this kid is a real young superstar. He’s ready,” said Hearn.
For Kambosos vs. Haney fight to take place in May, it’s going to depend on the Covid-19 numbers in Australia.
