Kambosos - Haney: Who Have You Got?

This weekend has the fight for the Undisputed Lightweight Title between WBA, IBF & WBO holder George Kambosos and WBC champ Devin Haney in Kambosos' native Australia.

I have to say I really like Kambosos in this. He's shown that he is not fazed by a big occasion, having floored and then outclassed Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden (ignore what Lopez said after the fight - it really wasn't close). I think his self-belief will be at an all time high and he is not likely to want to lose in front of his home crown.

Haney by comparison has not impressed me. He's incredibly frustrating in that he has ability, but doesn't use everything in his armoury, preferring to "cruise" during his fights. He's a very good fighter, but he doesn't have that spiteful edge that a Davis or even Spence has - and I think this may be his undoing in this bout. Every punch that Kambosos lands will be met with roars from the crowd, and Haney strikes me as the sort who likes to have things his own way. He is a long way from home, and has had to switch trainers due to his Father not being allowed in (until today, when he's been granted a last-minute visa). This will have disrupted him.

I think with this much going against him Kambosos will pick up that WBC belt in a fairly close but Unanimous Decision, which Haney will complain about until he's blue in the face. Home advantage will be the deciding factor here, and I can't see the judges going against the home fighter in a close fight, especially with all 4 belts at stake. Each will have their moments, but I reckon Kambosos is likely to produce the more effective work and pressure Haney into fighting defensively. 115-113 or something like that.

Fancy Haney to box Kambosos Jr in the early stages. Then as the Australian gets reckless, Haney gets a late stoppage. More so an accumulation of punches as Haney isn’t a puncher.

Kambosis is a decent fighter that caught a better fighter on an unmotivated night.

Bit of a Buster Douglas..

Haney by shut out.

All about levels...Haney is world class..

Excellent from Haney and classy from both fighters in the post fight comments.

Haney really stepped up and showed how good he is. I would imagine that the rematch is likely to follow the same path.

I assume whether or not the rematch will go ahead depends on whether money can be made from it.

Kambosos was so bad I actually believe Teo's excuse that he was down with some sort of life-threatening malady during the Kambosos fight, because ain't know way a person who beat the great Vasily Lomachenko could lose to Kambosos

The chain of events is apparently the fault of a mule-headed Lomachenko.  Reports from his own camp said they wanted to pull Lomachenko out of the Teofimo fight because of a right shoulder injury sustained by Lomachenko in training, but Loma said he would retire if they pulled him out of the fight saying he believed he could beat Teofimo with one hand.  I think it was noted that during the first half of the fight Loma hardly threw a punch and none with his right.  Hardly anybody foresaw a points win for Teofimo because Lomachenko was supposed to have the superior boxing skills.

You can't fault Kambosos' ambition, he dared to be great but fell short, no shame in that.

I really see no need for another unnecessary rematch.

Jeff Navarro wrote:I really see no need for another unnecessary rematch.

Kambosos can - if it was a contracted rematch, why wouldn't he make another big pile of cash, even if he loses again?

Haney's a tricky customer and took away Kambosos' prime weapons so of course he was going to look poor. As Truss says, Kambosos won the lottery against Lopez and wasn't good enough for the defence. I also don't see any reason for a rematch other than lining their pockets. Based on Haney's last performance, I can't really see the outcome changing.

Not sure if it's just a freak occurrence which could have happened to anyone, or whether it's another indictment of the poor state boxing is in (probably a bit of both), but Haney is in an odd situation where he's become 'undisputed' without having faced either of the two men who might well make up the division's top two in the eyes of many fans.

Not his fault, mind you, especially with regards to Lopez dropping the ball against Kambosos. But I'd back Lomachenko to take him to school if that fight was made now, and at the very least I'd like to see him take on Lopez before I'd feel more comfortable calling him the real king at 135 lb. Haney would probably tap his way to a points lead in that one, but Lopez would fancy his chances of timing him with something big and hurting him with his much superior power at some stage. A badly faded Linares (who was still probably better than Kambosos) did it, but didn't have the time or cutting edge anymore to follow up on it.

Becoming a bit of a joke that none of the new generation in and around 135 in Haney, Lopez, Stevenson, Davis and Garcia have fought each other yet.

88Chris05 wrote:Not sure if it's just a freak occurrence which could have happened to anyone, or whether it's another indictment of the poor state boxing is in (probably a bit of both), but Haney is in an odd situation where he's become 'undisputed' without having faced either of the two men who might well make up the division's top two in the eyes of many fans.

Not his fault, mind you, especially with regards to Lopez dropping the ball against Kambosos. But I'd back Lomachenko to take him to school if that fight was made now, and at the very least I'd like to see him take on Lopez before I'd feel more comfortable calling him the real king at 135 lb. Haney would probably tap his way to a points lead in that one, but Lopez would fancy his chances of timing him with something big and hurting him with his much superior power at some stage. A badly faded Linares (who was still probably better than Kambosos) did it, but didn't have the time or cutting edge anymore to follow up on it.

Becoming a bit of a joke that none of the new generation in and around 135 in Haney, Lopez, Stevenson, Davis and Garcia have fought each other yet.

Lol, it's funny to see boxing work the way fans want it to work and they're still not happy. Two fighters fought for fourish belts, Lopez won. There was no rematch clause, which people moan about. Lopez fought his mandatory and lost. And his mandatory fought the only man with a claim to the title and lost. No disputes over lineage. No crummy rematches. No multitudes of titlists floating about, and yet boxing fans will find something to moan about. This time that there isn't a league system in boxing, apparently.

I guess those caveats where I said it could be a bit of a freak occurrence and that none of this was Haney's fault weren't enough for you then, Raf?

The sport's worked in a way we'd prefer to leave all those belts around his waist, fair enough. But that doesn't mean it's a perfect mechanism incapable of leading us to some grey areas at times even under those circumstances.

Haney has earned the right to be called undisputed, I just couldn't hand on my heart say I consider him the best Lightweight in the world, and think that he's had an unusually low-key run to that distinction in terms of who he's beaten, particularly relative to the names in his division who aren't on his record. I suspect (others can come in here and let me know if I'm right) that a decent proportion of fans think the same.

I'm not going to shelve that opinion just because the sport worked how we'd generally like it to. No two roads to undisputed are going to be the same and compared to others in the four-belt era Haney's seems a little more fortunate or straightforward than most. Nothing too odd or moany about that is there?

The thing is Lopez lost and deservedly so to Kambosos so the suggestion he was still in the divisions top two seems a bit off to me, i'm not interested in the excuses made for that loss, he simply lost to the better man. Lomachenko lost to Lopez previously to that so Haney is without doubt the man who beat the man who beat the man who beat the man. It's not as if Haney has purposefully gone down the route of least resistance.

Agree with Soul on this. The fact that Lomachenko has been away isn't anyone's fault, nor is it Kambosos' for beating Lopez, whatever Lopez' excuses. Haney simply beat the man, and easily. He should now be lining up those who don't seem to want to fight each other such as Garcia and Davis.

Stevenson shouldn't be counted in that group yet as he's still at 130lbs.

Most of the above mentioned boxers are still in their twenties and some are under 25. If the prestige and selling point behind having an undefeated record was removed then maybe it would be easier to arrange fights between them.

I don't see the grey area. Lomachenko could have fought him, chose to pick up a trinket franchise belt to fight Lopez. Lopez could have fought him if he got through his mandatory. He didn't. I'd have some sympathy for this position if one or both men were injured and/or were somehow jobbed by the alphabet organisations. They weren't. They lost outright in the ring. Neither of the decisions were even debatable. He's the rightful man at 135, and the truth is he cruised through beating Kambosos, who knocked Lopez down and shut his left eye. I don't really see how you can have Lopez as a top two guy in the division and Kambosos as worse than Linares when Kambosos beat the absolute snot out of Lopez.

He is the rightful man at 135, Raf. He's got facts and numbers on his side, I've only got opinion. I just don't personally think he's the best fighter at 135 despite having all the belts. I can't recall ever thinking this before about a four-belt champion before, but I've given my reasons for why I feel it in this situation.

Kambosos deservedly beat Lopez, but I think Lopez badly underperformed in that fight (you seem to have lent some credence to that idea above albeit I could be misinterpreting that) and similarly Kambosos would never have got anywhere near beating Lomachenko the way Lopez did. Outside of Lopez it's not as if Kambosos has ever looked anything special. That fight suggested he's a top tier Lightweight, every other one he's had suggests the opposite. He's got a perfectly legitimate win over Lopez but I think the jury is still out on who the better fighter is.

Haney has earned his undisputed status. It's legitimate, fair or whatever else you want to call it. I just think there's a guy in his own division who he'd start as a clear underdog against and that he's won the belts without having to beat any genuinely top level fighters, and I can't think of any other four-belt titlist in which both have been applicable simultaneously.