Devin Haney was going into the biggest fight of his career without his father/trainer alongside him. Due to Bill Haney’s inability to obtain a visa to enter Australia, Haney was to have fought defending lightweight king George Kambosos Jr whilst working with Yoel Judah, not his father. But now, as per a news story from foxsports.com.au, it has been reported how Bill Haney HAS been granted a visa, this at the eleventh hour.
Bill Haney now has a very short amount of time to get to Australia for the big fight, set to begin at 1.30 pm Sunday local time in Melbourne. But this is great news for Haney, who of course will have a far greater shot of winning with his head trainer working with him. Haney, 27-0(15) is actually the betting favourite to win the fight, and Haney himself says he is “levels above” Kambosos and that although he doesn’t care about the betting odds, he agrees that he is the favourite – “of course, I’m levels above this guy and I’ll show that on Sunday,” Haney said shortly after engaging in an intense (and very long) face-off.
Meanwhile, Bob Arum has stated how Kambosos Jr, 20-0(10) has “secured the biggest pay day for an Australian in boxing history,” with the defending WBA/IBF/WBO 135 pound ruler set to earn a staggering $10 million (Australian) for the fight, his first title defence. “George will make around $6 to $7 million US dollars from this deal, which is about $9 to $10 million Aussie, and then he’ll get a share of the Australian pay-per-view market. Kostya Tszyu fought under me a couple of times, but he was never paid anything close to this.”
But money is not the big factor for either fighter – winning the fight is. A loss would be a real blow for Haney, while Kambosos, if he loses, will have the right to a return via the rematch clause. Both fighters are in superb physical shape and fans are braced for a classic encounter.
Pick: I’m going for Haney to pull out the win via close decision.