George Kambosos vs Devin Haney: one will be the undisputed champion and possible rival of Gustavo Lemos

From the native Tres Arroyos and with special attention, Gustavo Lemos they will continue the fight that they will play this Saturday George Kambosos and Devin Haney in Melbourne and which will consecrate an undisputed champion of the lightweight division (ESPN 2 will air from 10pm). Of that fight, the most important in Australian boxing history, The Argentine’s next rival, number one in the International Boxing Federation rankings, should emerge and mandatory challenger recognized by that body, even if the path may not be so simple.

The Marvel Stadium, a colosseum opened in 2000 on the bank of the Yarra River that hosts matches of different disciplines (soccer, rugby, Australian football, cricket) and concerts (Adele performed there in front of 77,327 people in 2017), will host 54,000 spectators Sunday at Australian noona day and a time atypical for boxing, but necessary to animate the early evening American television due to the 14 hour time zone difference.

If so many people gather around a ring, it will be because of the presence on the consortium of Cambodia, the new local hero, who last November gave one of the great blows of recent years by defeating American (from Honduran family) Teófimo López at the Madison Square Garden theater. That victory in a dramatic confrontation, in which they both visited the canvas, made him the owner of the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Organization, and the 135-pound IBF titles.

Until six months ago, the Fierceone of thousands of Australians of Greek descent (a large community settled on the island after World War II), was a little-known boxer who had moved his base of operations to the United States in 2018 and had achieved his most important victory in the October 2020 at Wembley Arena in London against Welsh former featherweight champion Lee Selby. The victory over López catapulted him to stardom and to great opportunities.

With that large deck in his hands, the 28-year-old Oceanian had planned to display his crowns Vasily Lomachenkobut at the end of February, a few hours after the start of military operations by the Russian army, the Ukrainian returned to his country, enlisted in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi territorial defense battalion, his hometown, and suspended his career. “I respect your decision and understand it perfectly. I pray for you and for your country. Please be safe “Kambosos wrote to him via his Twitter account. And he assured him that he would keep his commitment to face him when he was available.

That wasted opportunity, Haney appeared. “I could have fought anyone, against the garbage man out here if I wanted to, but I chose you, that’s why you’re here.”Kambosos hit him on Monday during a press conference at Melbourne’s Culture Kings. That dump the Aussie was referring to was not the World Boxing Council lightweight champion. Haney, yes. “I won my belts the hard way, I picked the biggest fights possible, not like this guy. They gave him a gift. “the undefeated local tried to discredit him (he won his 20 professional matches, 10 before the limit).

The criticisms of his rival are not consistent with the background of Haney, one of the most promising young men in American boxing, who at 23 already amasses many hours of work in the ring. As an amateur he has won seven national championships and completed a campaign of 130 wins and only 8 losses. After the California State Athletic Commission refused to grant him a professional license at the age of 17, he took a hard way to make the leap into rental sport: made his first four fights in a Tijuana pool halljust over the border. He has returned several times to the second most populous city in Mexico: there he made 10 of his 27 presentations.

On September 13, 2019, at just 20 years old, the unbeaten Californian won the WBC interim lightweight title by eliminating the Russian Zaur Abdullaev. After the organization promoted him to regular champion, he defended the belt four times, three of them against former world champions (Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa, Venezuelan Jorge Linares and American JoJo Díaz).

With this background, the Sleep Arrive as a slight favorite in this contest. But he will have to face the challenge on the patio of the rival’s house and, for the first time in his career, without the company of Bill, his father and head coach, who was unable to travel to Australia because the country’s government denied him a visa for receiving a federal conviction for drug dealing in 1992. Not even Ben Davison, his second coach, will be able to accompany him. For this, Yoel Judah, father of the former world champion Zab Judah, will be in his corner.

The American made it clear on Monday that these adversities will not prevent him from coming out victorious from Marvel Stadium. “He’s a good fighter, but I think I’m on a completely different level. There is nothing he can do better than me in the ring and I will show it in the fight. “, Haney warned in a hot press conferenceduring which he called his opponent a “cursed clown”.

At the time of the insults, Kambosos was not far behind: He accused the American of leaking information about Teófimo López before the fight between the two. “I was going to fight with his countryman and he texted me and told me all the details. “Teofimo in a hookah bar, Teofimo has problems with his wife,” he told me. This is being a mouse, a theft “Shot.

When the time for words has passed and the time for punches arrives, anyone who ends up with their arms raised in Melbourne will keep all 135-pound belts and so he will become the eighth undisputed champion since the four main organizations started coexisting in 1988. In these 34 years, Bernard Hopkins (middleweight), Jermain Taylor (middleweight), Terence Crawford (super light), Oleksandr Usyk (cruiser) have got it., Josh Taylor (super light weight), Saúl Canelo Álvarez (super middleweight) and Jermell Charlo (super welterweight).

Also, the winner should be Gustavo Lemos’ next rival, who achieved IBF mandatory challenger status thanks to his fifth round TKO win over Welsh Lee Selby on March 26 at Luna Park. However, several obstacles can interfere between the tresarroyense and that huge opportunity.

For now, the contract for the fight between Kambosos and Haney provides for an automatic rematch and on Australian soil in the event of the American’s victory (but not if the result is negative for him). If the winner is the ocean, it would face a number of potential rivals that could allow it to generate a much higher income of those that would produce a duel with Lemos.

First on the list would be lomachenko, if he is able to fight again. There are other big players in the division like the regular WBA champion Gervonta Davis (he eliminated Rolando Romero last weekend) and the Californian Ryan Garcia (On July 16 he will face the Dominican Javier Fortuna). It has also been speculated on the possibility that Shakur StevensonWBC and WBO super featherweight champion, move up in category.

Among these names, Lemos must work his way up to assert his status as a mandatory challenger and access a World Cup chance before the end of the year. The FIB regulation endorses it, even if it is not always sufficient.