Undisputed lightweight champion of the world Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 28-0 (15) revealed the simple game plan that scored him the victory over hometown favourite George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-1 (10) at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday afternoon.
The 23-year-old American came away with the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF 135-pound belts with a unanimous decision victory by scores of 116-112 twice and 118-110.
“I was comfortable,” Haney said. “I was just sticking to the game plan. The game plan was to go there and hit and not get hit and I did that for the majority of the fight. I took the last round off just because I knew I was comfortably ahead, but I fought a good, smart fight.
“I handicapped him of his best things. He wanted to land the overhand right and he wanted to land the big left hook. I handicapped him. I was fighting both ways. When I would go to the left, I would fight his right hand. When I would go to the right, I would fight his left hook. And he couldn’t hit me with neither one of them.”
The build-up to the fight got a little heated when Kambosos, 28, labelled Haney a “rat” and “an informant” for feeding him information on his last opponent Teofimo Lopez 16-1 (12) who the Sydneysider defeated on points at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden last November.
“I take my hat off to him because he is a true warrior,” Haney said. “I respect anybody that steps into the ring. There was nothing but respect through the hold buildup. Even though he got disrespectful, I stayed as a gentleman. I stayed professional.
“I want to thank George Kambosos and all of Australia for coming out. Thank you, George, for giving me the shot. All of these so-called champions would not give me my shot. But George was a true champion and he gave me my shot. Thank you for this.”
There is reportedly a rematch clause in the contract that will require Haney to travel to Australia once against to face Kambosos. How watertight that clause is remains to be seen.
“If it’s meant to happen, if Allah wants it to happen, I’ll be back,” Haney said.
Haney’s father and trainer Bill Haney was given a last minute reprieve by the federal government to travel to Australia. He had been previously denied a visa on the grounds that he had served more than 12 months in prison on a felony drug charge. That was more than 30 years ago.
“This is a dream come true,” Haney said. “I was going through it without my dad being here because I knew it was a big moment for us. We both dreamed of this. Since we started out, we said we wanted to be the best. It would have hurt me to accomplish this without him. I’m so thankful that we were able to accomplish this together.”
