George Kambosos Jr. had a plan to try disrupt Devin Haney but even it was not enough as the American put on a masterclass to solidify his reign as undisputed king of the lightweight division.
The Australian put up a fight and did well to still be standing by the end of 12 rounds but Haney’s class shone through, taking a unanimous decision win (119-109, 118-110, 118-110).
The American now looks set for a mega fight with two-time Olympic champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Kambosos Jr. opened the first round with plenty of aggression, although he was also switching up his stance in an early tactic which boxing legend Jeff Fenech labelled “strange”.
“We expected aggression, I don’t think we expected him to dabble with southpaw,” added Ben Damon.
“It is controlled aggression in this opening round.”
Kambosos Jr. ended the round by backing Haney up to the ropes, completing that aggressive approach to the first round, a stark difference to the opening fight between the two.
“A great finish to the round by George Kambosos,” Fenech said.
Haney though responded in the second round by landing a big right hand that had Fenech predicting that a knockout would end the fight, irrespective of who emerged victorious.
“Definitely that round is Devin Haney’s but George is trying different things, he’s looking better than he did in the first fight,” Fenech said.
“Much more determined, much more energy. This fight is in the balance.”
Kambosos Jr. continued to maintain his aggression in the third round, pressing forward and switching stances to try put Haney off but the American kept coming back with the right hand.
“That is his plan to combat the changes in stance,” Damon said, with Haney continuing to find his rhythm as the fight went deeper.
The American adjusted to Kambosos Jr.’s switching between southpaw and orthodox, leaving the Australian to then find another edge to flip the script once more.
Heading into the sixth round it was still Haney looking comfortable and getting up on the scorecards while Kambosos Jr. struggled to work on the inside.
Still, the challenger continued to dig deep against one of the best in the world, yet Kambosos Jr. just could not find any answer to the right hand.
“It won’t be the jab that will be the story, it will be his powerful right hand,” Damon said.
Kambosos Jr.’s corner then delivered a passionate plea to 29-year-old as the fight started to slip away.
“You want to win this fight or not,” Kambosos Jr.’s corner said, to which the Australian replied: “Yes, I do”.
“Well, what the f*** are you doing,” his corner fired back.
With Haney in total control, Kambosos Jr. had one of his better moments of the fight in the eight round as he landed a right hand to the body, bringing the crowd at Rod Laver Arena to life.
“I don’t think he won the round but it would have given him a lot of confidence,” Fenech said.
Kambosos Jr. landed a huge right hand again in the ninth round to once more bring the crowd to its feet but Haney answered back with a right hand of his own and another soon after.
“This is turning into a bloody battle in Melbourne,” Damon added.
Fenech urged Kambosos Jr. to take a risk, with the scorecards already getting away from the Australian but he had taken quite a beating and the shots kept coming in the 10th round.
Haney looked on the verge of dropping the 29-year-old, with Damon declaring: “He is rocked, Kambosos is wobbled”.
“It’s been brave from Kambosos but the class has told and now the brutality begins,” he added.
“This is as brave as I have ever seen in the ring… he’s a warrior,” Fenech said.
“How is he standing up?”
Kambosos Jr. would remain standing until the final bell went in what Fenech described as an “unbelievable” display of bravery against the relentless Haney.
MAIN CARD RESULTS
Devin Haney (c) def George Kambosos Jr via UD (119-109, 118-110, 118-110) for the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC lightweight world titles
Adrian Sosa vs John Mannu (swing bout)
Jason Moloney def Nawaphon Kaikanha via UD (118-110, 118-110, 119-109)
Andrew Moloney def Norbelto Jimenez via UD (97-90, 98-88, 98-89) for the vacant WBO international junior bantamweight title
Cherneka Johnson (c) def Susie Ramadan via UD (97-90, 96-92, 96-91) for the IBF super bantamweight world title
PRELIMS RESULTS
Faiga ‘Django’ Opelu def Hemi Ahio by TKO in Round 4
David Nyika def Titi Motusaga via KO in Round 2
Marcus Heywood def by Lorenzo Simpson via UD (58-54 x 2, 59-53)
Amari Jones def Tej Pratap Singh via UD (59-55 x 2, 60-54)
