By Adam Baskin: WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney will not come mentally unglued from the mind games unified champion George Kambosos Jr. is playing ahead of their fight this Sunday night.
Haney says he’s “mentally strong,” and Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) won’t enjoy the same success with his before-fight mental tricks as he did before his last contest against Teofimo Lopez on November 27th last year.
Kambosos, 28, has taken an unusual approach to the fight build-up with Haney, coming up with a theme of him being a “rat,” a stool pigeon for having helped him with advice before his last fight against Teofimo.
Rather than keeping that under wraps and being thankful to Haney for the help, Kambosos has chosen to reveal that he was assisted.
However, rather than fans looking at Haney in a bad light, they see Kambosos as being a turncoat for revealing the help that he was given.
Kambosos has been slow in understanding that this tired theme isn’t working for him, so he’s continued along that path, making himself look slightly unbalanced in the eyes of some fans.
“I’m 100% focused and ready to go. I’m not leaving Sunday without those belts,” said Devin Haney to iFL TV. “I will be victorious by any means necessary, and I will show the world, and the world will give me my just due after this fight,” said Haney.
If Haney wins, he’ll still need to fight Kambosos a second time because of the rematch clause in the contract. Haney will need to fight him again unless Kambosos chooses not to activate the rematch clause.
There’s a real possibility that Kambosos’ career will be a dumpster fire by the time Haney is finished with him in their two fights.
“I’m here with my coach Yoel Judah, and we’re building our chemistry,” said Haney. “I’m ready to go. There ain’t no rats. That’s all cap. Boxing is far from the streets, so to be referring to somebody as a rat is dead a** wrong.
“I’m relaxed. I know that’s what he wants to do. We saw him run the same trick on Teofimo, but the same thing that worked on him, is not going to work on me,” said Haney about the mind games that Kambosos is playing.
“I’m mentally strong; I’m built for this; I’m prepared for this moment. I will come out undisputed. Whether he likes it or not, I’m ready for this moment, and that’s why he’s playing all these tricks & coming with all these skits because he knows all the skillsets that I have and am coming with.
“My full mindset is going on in there and winning, putting on the best performance possible. I can’t think of him. We’ll have to see on fight night. Whatever he brings to the table, I’m prepared, and whatever style, I’m prepared for whatever scenario,” said Haney.
