Devin Haney is back in the picture for undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr’s next fight in June. According to Chris Mannix, WBC lightweight champion Devin’s dad, Bill Haney, says “Money will NOT be an obstacle” for them negotiating a fight with Kambosos.
This week, Mannix, who works for DAZN, reported that the negotiations between Kambosos Jr. and Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) had “stalled” due to Devin not agreeing to the financial package.
At the time, Vasily Lomachenko and Ryan Garcia were to fighters that Kambosos had a good chance of fighting next in the first defense of his four 135-lb titles.
Kambosos said earlier on Saturday that he wants to fight the best, and his focus is on facing either Haney or Lomachenko next in a stadium fight in Australia.
Between those two, it’ll come down to which of them has the better financial offer for Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) because he wants to make the most money possible for his first defense as the new undisputed lightweight champion.
Although it was an impressive performance by Kamaboso, Teofimo looked out of sorts physically due to a lung problem, and the effects of losing a massive amount of water weight to get down to the 135-lb limit for the weigh-in.
“Like I have said countless times, Chris Mannix, I want the best challenger to give the world the best fights possible. Haney, Matchroom boxing, Lomachenko Top Rank boxing,” said @GeorgeKambosos.
It takes two to tango, so let’s get this done ASAP. The stadium in Australia awaits. And still!” said Kambosos.
Ryan Garcia no longer appears to be in the picture for Kambosos Jr’s next fight, as the Australian focusing now on either Lomachenko or Haney.
There are Haney fans who feel that he deserves the fight against Kambosos because he holds the WBC lightweight title. They also felt that Lomachenko had his chance, and lost his titles to Teofimo by a 12 round decision in October 2020.
However, Lomachenko fought with an injured right shoulder, which limited him to using his left hand through much of the fight. Shortly after the fight, which Lomachenko lost by a 12 round decision, he had shoulder surgery.
In coming back from his shoulder problem, Lomachenko has looked as good as ever, beating Richard Commey and Masayoshi Nakatani. The way Lomachenko performed in those two fights, he looked much better than Haney or Kambosos Jr.
The way Lomachenko is fighting now, he would easily defeat Devin or Kambosos if given the chance.
Bill Haney, father/trainer of @RealDevinHaney, tells SI that money will not be an obstacle in making a fight with Kambosos. Says Devin is singularly focused on that fight — which would end all debate about the undisputed 135-pound champion. https://t.co/mj2KImRSx3
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 29, 2022
Haney is a winnable fight for Kambosos. If that’s his focus to find an opponent that he can beat, Haney is by far the better option for him than Lomachenko. Few boxing fans believe Kambosos Jr. would have any shot at beating Lomachenko
When Teofimo was fighting hard and not struggling with his stamina, he was battering Kambosos and making it look easy. The way that Kambosos looked in many of the rounds against Teofimo, he would lose to Haney, Lomachenko, and even Ryan Garcia.
Kambosos rules out Ryan Garcia fight
“Sure you do buddy, sure you do 😂🤦🏻♂️ WAR? You’re the kind soldier that would be shivering in their boots, hiding away in a cave until the wars finished,” said Kambosos Jr. to Ryan Garcia.
“Listen, like I said, buddy, I like you, your a good kid but take a ticket and get in line I got REAL business to handle first. https://twitter.com/ryangarcia/status/1487312264545792005.”