Four-belt lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr looked flustered and nervous on Thursday during the kickoff press conference with Devin Haney when reminded by him that he was “forced” to fight him and didn’t want the fight.
The self-confidence that we saw from Kambosos in the build-up to his last fight against Teofimo Lopez is entirely gone. Kambosos looked shaky in his verbal exchanges with Haney, and one got the sense that he was worried as he should be.
This is a bad style match-up for Kambosos in taking on the pure boxer Haney, and he could end up looking silly in front of his Australian fans on June 4th.
Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) wanted to fight Vasyl Lomachenko, but when he bowed out of the June 4th fight, only then did his promoter turn to WBC champion Haney as the Plan-B option.
Before that, Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) had already said he wanted the fight with Kambosos and was ready to travel to Australia to fight him.
Devin Haney: “He can say that he chose me but that’s not true. He was forced into this fight. He did not want to fight me. He did not choose me, he was forced into it.
George Kambosos: “You were chosen, boy. You were chosen.”
Haney: “I wasn’t chosen. You were forced. You didn’t want this fight. I knew I could beat you.”
Kambosos: “Show me June 5th.”
Haney: “I’ll fight you anywhere. I’ll fight you in your backyard if I had to because I know I’m going to beat you. You’ll see on June 5th.”
Kambosos: “He’s upset, Eddie.”
Haney: “What am I going to be upset about? I’m going to be undisputed. This is a dream come true for me.”
Kambosos: “You sound very angry. You sound very upset. I want to see that energy when you step in here with me.”
It’s possible that Kambosos’ 15 minutes of fame will end against Haney on June 4th, and he could see his career go to pieces shortly after that.
Fortunately for Kambosos, he’s got a rematch clause in the contract, which will allow him to get a second fight with Haney if he loses. Kambosos will get a second payday against Haney, so it won’t be all bad for him.
Haney really put Kambosos in his place during the press conference. That confidence that we saw from Kambosos in dealing with Teofimo is gone. Now, Kamboos knows what he’s up against and he looks and sounds very worried.