George Kambosos Jr’s promoter Lou Dibella says he is expecting “fireworks” when the Australian gets back inside the ring for his lightweight unification bout against American Devin Haney.
After months of speculation that Kambosos will push the trigger on his rematch clause with Haney following his loss in June, their blockbuster fight was confirmed on Tuesday for October 16 at Rod Laver Arena. The announcement in Melbourne confirmed last week’s report by foxsports.com.au, where Kambsosos let the cat out of the bag that he would take on Haney.
Haney (28-0) beat Kambosos Jr. (20-1) via unanimous decision on June 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne to become the first-ever undisputed lightweight champion of the world, silencing the 40,000-plus fans in attendance.
While some, including Haney’s promoter Bob Arum, encouraged Kambosos not to inact the rematch clause following the American’s one-sided victory, the veteran promoter said Kambosos stood a chance if he changed his tactics.
“If he approaches the fight differently, he has a good, good chance,” Arum said.
“If he fights the same fight that he fought last time, he has no chance.
“We’ll have to see which George Kambosos shows up: the one who fought and beat Teofimo Lopez (in late 2021) or the one who fought from the outside and wasn’t aggressive against Devin Haney.”
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He went on to say that rematches often can be better than the original show.
“Why do a rematch? I go back to history,” Arum said. “I remember that Joe Frazier dominated Muhammad Ali in their first fight. And when the rematch came, Ali clearly was the better man and won the rematch.
“More recently, Sugar Ray Leonard facing Roberto Duran in Montreal lost to Duran convincingly and five months later when they did the rematch, Leonard proved to be the superior fighter and not only won the fight, but made Durant quit. So rematches can be even more interesting than the original fight.
“I really believe both fighters are going to bring this and give a great, great fight to the public, not only all the fans in Melbourne, but the millions of people watching around the world.”
Kambosos is putting everything on the line against Haney.
The 29-year-old has promised to walk away from the sport should he lose to Haney for a second time.
“It’s a great division. But, for me, yes, I’m 29, this is the do-or-die for me now,” he said.
“You will not see me if I don’t overcome come this fight back in Australia; fighting domestic guys, that’s not me.
“Everything I have, I’ll be putting it to that ring and obviously my training and God willing, I’ll be victorious October 16.”
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Haney, 23, said his life remained the same since his historic win Down Under.
“Like life hasn’t changed for me,” a bullish Haney said.
“At the end of the day, I’m still the same person, I’m still the same fighter.
“At the end of the day I knew that I was going to win, so it’s not a surprise for me. It just made me hungrier because it’s hard to get the belts but it’s even harder to keep them. I know that a lot of people want my head, even more now. So it made me even more hungry.”
Kambosos continued to be coy about what he will do differently second time round, Dibella gave a blunt appraisal of his performance at Marvel Stadium earlier this winter and said the Australian would have to take the fight to Haney.
“This shouldn’t be a sensational fight,” he said.
“I expect it to be much better than the first fight because in the first fight frankly, George couldn’t do anything. His game plan didn’t work. He wasn’t really himself. And Devin Haney dominated that fight, and did what he pretty much wanted to do.
“I do not believe George is going to make it so easy for him this time.
“I think that George is going to take chances. I think he’s going to show you why he’s nicknamed the ‘Spartan Warrior’.
“I think Devin is going to try to put an exclamation point on his undisputed status. I think he’s going to try to show people he’s pound-for-pound (and) that he can beat George even more convincingly, but I think there’s going to be a lot more fireworks. I think it’s going to be a sensational fight.”
Dibella said the fact Kambosos would likely be more assertive in the fight could leave both fighters open.
“George is going to have to take chances, George is going to have to you know fight through a jab,” he said.
“Devin showed a pretty good blueprint for how he can beat George Kambosos. But George did not fight his fight and he’s going have to get out there and fight his fight. And he’s a warrior.
“He’s going to try to walk through the fire this time. He knows what he has to do. He has to fight a different fight. I expect him to fight a different fight. I expect a lot more fire in this fight.
“When you see more fire there’s more risk. Either man can score a knockout, either man can hurt the other. If George is really going to commit himself to going after Devin we’re going to see some fireworks.”
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here