Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) made it look easy, beating former unified 135-lb champion George Kambosos Jr (20-2, 10 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in their rematch on Saturday night at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
The judge’s scores were:
Kambosos fought more aggressively this time, but after Haney figured him out after two rounds, it was a mismatch from that point on. Haney outboxed the little emperor, making him look as limited as he’d been in the first fight.
Kambosos was bleeding from the face in the later rounds and looked like the beaten man. There’s no word yet whether he’ll retire now.
The 29-year-old Kambosos was supposed to have come with a different game plan tonight, but he looked like the same limited fighter he’d been in the first fight with Haney.
Kambosos was helpless when Haney was on the outside, as he didn’t possess a jab to trade shots with the unbeaten champion. Basically, Kambosos was forced to lower his head and bum-rush Haney, making him vulnerable to getting nailed while he was on his way in.
Haney got away with a lot of holding without being penalized by the referee. Whatever chance Kambosos had of winning, it was taken away from him by Haney’s clinching.
With the loss, Kambosos has a tough decision to make on whether to continue his career or hang up his gloves and retire. Any top-tier lightweight would have beaten Kambosos tonight and likely done a far better job than the light-hitting Haney.
If Kambosos is going to continue his career, he’s going to need to stay away from fighters like Shakur Stevenson, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, Vasyl Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis, Michel Rivera, Jamaine Ortiz, and Jeremiah Nakathila.
For his part, Haney didn’t look enough tonight to defeat Vasyl Lomachenko, if that’s who he’s thinking of fighting next. Lomachenko is a much better fighter than what we saw from Haney tonight, and he’d beat him handily.
If Haney chooses not to fight Lomachenko, he’ll likely move up to 140 and take his chances with the top guys in that division. If matched carefully by Top Rank, Haney might pick up a belt, but he’ll have big problems if he fights the likes of Jose Ramirez, Regis Prograis and Jose Zepeda.
