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George Kambosos Jr. views Devin Haney as the best available opponent he can fight June 5.
That doesn’t mean the undefeated, unified lightweight champion considers Haney an elite-level boxer. Kambosos claimed during a press conference Friday at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, that he’ll prove the unbeaten WBC world lightweight champion isn’t in his class when they square off in two months at that same venue.
“Look, I’ve been a contender on the rise for a long time before I won these titles,” Kambosos said. “So, I’ve been looking at all these guys. I’ve got notes on all these guys. I know how to beat all these guys and I will continue to beat all of them – one by one, round by round, one by one. So, look, I’m not gonna disrespect Devin Haney. He’s a good boxer. But he ain’t elite, and he will find that out the hard way.”
Sydney’s Kambosos knocked off a lightweight who was considered elite in his last fight. Teofimo Lopez was a 10-1 favorite during fight week, but Kambosos dropped him in the first round, survived a 10th-round knockdown and topped Lopez by split decision in their 12-round, 135-pound title fight November 27 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.
The 28-year-old Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) won the IBF, WBA, WBC franchise and WBO lightweight titles from Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs). The 23-year-old Haney holds the only lightweight championship, the WBC world crown, that Kambosos needs to become boxing’s first fully unified lightweight champion of the four-belt era.
Las Vegas’ Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) contends he is the WBC’s legitimate lightweight champion, despite that Kambosos beat the man (Lopez) who beat the man (Vasiliy Lomachenko).
Haney won the WBC’s interim lightweight title when he stopped Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (15-1, 9 KOs) after four rounds in September 2019 at MSG’s Hulu Theater. The WBC elevated Haney to world champion when it made Lomachenko its franchise champ, which enabled Lomachenko to oppose Lopez rather than making a mandated title defense against Haney.
Kambosos wanted to fight the more accomplished Lomachenko on June 5. Lomachenko agreed to contractual terms, but the three-division champ pulled out of their bout because the Ukrainian boxer is committed to assisting in his country’s military efforts in its war with Ukraine.
Haney happily replaced Lomachenko in a main event ESPN will air in the United States the night of June 4.
“They call him ‘The Dream,’ but now that it’s signed, reality’s gonna kick in,” Kambosos said. “Day by day, that reality is gonna set in stone. You’re gonna see it – this stadium, this fighter you’ve got in front of you – this ain’t no game.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.