By Sean Jones: Vasyl Lomachenko is out of the picture for lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr’s next fight on June 4th and that’s opened the door for WBC belt holder Devin Haney to slide in and take the spot.
Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn sounded confident on Tuesday that he’ll be the one that Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) will be fighting next on June 4th at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Lomachenko is busy serving on the frontlines defending Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
According to his promoter Bob Arum, he has until the end of this week to decide whether to take the Kambosos fight. If not, Kambosos and his promoter Lou DiBella will go in a different direction for their June 4th title defense.
If Kambosos chooses to fight someone else instead of Haney, Hearn won’t be happy about that because he wants/needs this fight to increase the popularity of his fighter.
Despite being the WBC lightweight champion Haney hasn’t built a fanbase, mainly due to his shaky performances in his last two fights against Jorge Linares and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr.
While Haney both fights by decisions, he was hurt and did a lot of clinching and moving to survive. It didn’t make for great TV watching all the holding and running that Haney did in both of those fights.
“I think that obviously, the Ukraine situation with Lomachenko rules him out of the mix as well here,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing Show.
“Talks have been very positive between DAZN and Matchroom, Haney, DAZN, and Lou DiBella. I just feel that we can close this fight, and it’s a must-make,” Hearn continued about the possibility of Devin facing Kambosos Jr next.
Ryan Garcia and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions might swoop in and take the fight with Kambosos right out from under Haney and Hearn’s nose next month if King Ry wins his April 9th fight against Emmanuel Tagoe.
Hearn views this fight as one that will change Haney into a superstar overnight. Sean Jones doubts whether Hearn’s vision thing of Haney becoming a star off of a victory over Kambosos.
That’s faulty logic because Kambosos, 28, is just some guy that was in the right place at the right time in taking advantage of an injured, weight drained and ring-rusty Teofimo Lopez last November to squeak out a 12 round split decision in what was arguably Teo’s worst night physically of his career.
Kambosos was nothing special. He was just the opponent that capitalized in a situation against a fighter that shouldn’t have been in the ring that night.
“The undisputed lightweight world championship in a stadium, in Australia, gives George Kambosos his day. Give Devin Haney, who I believe is one of the biggest emerging stars in the sport, his opportunity to become undisputed champion.
“If George wins, we can run it back in America, not a problem,” Hearn said.
There are two options for Kambosos and DiBella if they decide they want a more interesting fight than Haney and they are as follows:
- Wait for Lomachenko to return from Ukraine
- Fight Ryan Garcia and make total bucks
Hearn is going to be crying crocodile tears big time if Kambosos chooses NOT to fight Haney next. All that time wasted by Hearn trying to set up the Haney fight with Kambosos would be useless.
There’s got to be someone better than Haney for Kambosos to fight next. If not Ryan Garcia, Kambosos should try and set up a fight with Gervonta Davis. That’s a much better fight for Kambosos than facing Haney.
If Kambosos fights Haney, he’ll regret it later because he’s going to jab, hold & run all night long and frustrate him and the fans.