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Lou DiBella applauded his lightweight champion, George Kambosos Jr., first and foremost.
Kambosos’ ambition is the primary reason DiBella initially made a deal with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. for the undefeated, unified 135-pound champion to battle Vasiliy Lomachenko on June 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Then it was Kambosos’ insistence on replacing Lomachenko with Haney that initiated more complicated negotiations that eventually led to Kambosos-Haney becoming a reality.
As proud as DiBella is of his own company’s champion, he hopes boxing fans appreciate Haney’s determination, too. The unbeaten WBC world lightweight champion wanted the Kambosos bout so badly that he agreed to fight the Sydney native twice in Australia, not just once, if Haney beats Kambosos in two months.
“Devin’s a man of his word,” DiBella told BoxingScene.com before a split-site press conference that took place Thursday night in Los Angeles (Haney) and Friday morning in Melbourne (Kambosos). “He said he wanted the fight and he proved he wanted the fight. And by the way, there are so many American fighters, supposedly superstar fighters, that wouldn’t even think about getting on an airplane and going to fight in the other guy’s hometown.
“There are so many fights that don’t happen internationally. And some of the fault goes to American fighters, who seem incredibly reticent – a lot of them. There have been exceptions. Regis Prograis went to fight Josh Taylor [in London]. It happens. Errol Spence went to England to fight Kell Brook [in Sheffield, England]. But it doesn’t happen as often as it should.”
Haney ensured that it happened this time when he opted to enter a multi-fight agreement with DiBella Entertainment and Top Rank, which has an exclusive content deal with ESPN.
If Haney defeats Kambosos, he is contractually obligated to box Kambosos in an immediate rematch in Australia. If the Oakland native were to beat Kambosos twice, his following fight could be an ESPN Pay-Per-View showdown with Lomachenko, who withdrew from his fight against Kambosos because the native Ukrainian stayed home to assist his country’s military efforts in its war with Russia.
Haney would have to remain at the lightweight limit for the Kambosos rematch and the Lomachenko clash to take place. Should Haney opt to move up to the 140-pound division after he battles Kambosos in a main event ESPN will televise the night of June 4 in the United States, Top Rank and DiBella Entertainment would still have options on Haney’s two subsequent bouts.
“Haney showed he wanted the fight,” DiBella said. “Give Haney and his dad some credit. They weren’t gonna do a worse deal than they had elsewhere. I mean, no one forced Bill Haney or Devin Haney into this. No one’s forcing Bill Haney or Devin Haney into anything. They did a deal that was the best deal for them. Give ‘em some credit.”
DiBella divulged that television and streaming rights to Kambosos-Haney in Australia was one of the primary reasons he and DAZN executive vice president Joe Markowski couldn’t come to an agreement late last week for DAZN to stream it worldwide. Once those talks ceased, DiBella finalized a deal with Haney and Top Rank that enabled Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) to be compensated with a financial package at least equivalent to what Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) would’ve received to challenge Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) at Marvel Stadium on June 5.
“Haney obviously didn’t have paper with [promoter] Eddie [Hearn] or DAZN, and it wasn’t like he didn’t communicate,” DiBella said. “IMG and myself talked often and extensively with DAZN. Joe Markowski wanted to make a deal. He tried hard. And I’m not saying they didn’t put up a good offer. It was a good offer. It just wasn’t as buttoned down and it wasn’t as good economically for the parties as the deal to fight Devin on ESPN. And, you know, Devin also wanted to know what his next few fights were gonna be, potentially. He was also looking for a plan. Give the Haneys credit, by the way. They wanted to be loyal to the people that paid them a lot of money, which is understandable. I admire that.
“I literally told Devin and his father that I admire the fact that they wanted to make sure that the people that paid them an incredible amount of money had an opportunity. I admire that. And DAZN had the opportunity, but the deal I was able to put together to fight on pay-per-view in Australia, on Foxtel Main Event in Australia, and have the fight carried on ESPN in the United States, and be sold to the highest bidder in the other territories around the world, that was the best deal. It allowed me to make George the best deal and it allowed me to make Devin the best deal.”
Hearn said recently on “The DAZN Boxing Show” that, in addition to DAZN’s need to maintain Kambosos-Haney rights for its subscribers in Australia, having Haney box Kambosos in Australia again if Haney wins wasn’t something he or Markowski were willing to put into their contracts.
DAZN streamed Haney’s past six fights, which was why Haney had hoped that DiBella and Markowski would come to an agreement. Once DiBella determined DAZN’s offer to “buy out the upside” wasn’t worth what he thinks the fight could earn on pay-per-view via Foxtel Main Event in Australia, he turned his attention to bringing Kambosos-Haney to ESPN in the U.S.
Ultimately, Haney’s free agency, in effect, allowed him to align with Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment and ESPN.
“It wasn’t about anybody liking anybody else better or teaching anyone else a lesson,” DiBella explained. “And, by the way, if there’s transparency between a fighter and a promoter, then the pool being bigger of money, then the bigger fight, the fight that generates the most money worldwide, is gonna be a better deal for the fighter and it’s gonna be a better deal for the promoter. It’s just good business. And what happened here was the best deal for George Kambosos, the best deal for Devin Haney, the best deal for everyone involved. But most importantly, isn’t it the best deal for boxing fans and the sport?
“Going into Melbourne, which is full of Greeks and a beautiful city, in a retractable-roof, state-of-the-art stadium, with a crazy crowd, a young American, a hungry kid who owns a belt, trying to go beat the man that just beat the man. It’s a great storyline. It’s a big event. It happens to be the right thing for everybody and I’m glad it’s happening. I’m glad it happened for George, I’m glad it happened for Devin and I’m glad it happened for boxing fans, because no question, this is gonna be a mega-event. It’s gonna be a spectacle, honestly. And it’s a great fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.