Boxing 2022: George Kambosos reveals his insane training regime before Devin Haney fight

George Kambosos lives by a Spartan war cry, and is determined to be the best in the world. He reveals his strict training program and diet.

Kambosos has complete faith in his training program.

This is the insane training program of a pugilistic professor.

A glimpse behind the iron-willed curtain of a kid from Sydney who has already shocked the world once — and is hellbent on doing it all over again.

George Kambosos Jnr, the proud Australian with the warrior spirit of his Greek forebears, has heard the whispers in the fight game.

That he is a one-hit wonder. That his gargantuan boilover of Teofimo Lopez, claiming four shimmering world-title belts on a life-changing day in the USA last November, was merely a fluke.

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Then the fiercely intense lightweight takes you inside his preparation, his diet and his driving forces, and you realise nothing is left to chance in the world of ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos.

“I have gotten hungrier,” he says. “I have gotten more obsessed.”

When Kambosos launches his maiden world-title defence on home soil at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium next Sunday, American challenger Devin Haney is not just facing a flurry of punches, but the brutal, imperceptible force of a man who is prepared to break himself before he breaks others.

The 28-year-old has the phrase “Never retreat, never surrender” tattooed on his body. He lives by the Spartan war cry. Kambosos takes 20 vitamins a day. He guzzles 28 litres of alkaline water a week. In sparring, he has clocked 35 consecutive rounds. That’s 105 minutes of furious, focused, razor-sharp, unrelenting punching. He squats 140kg and deadlifts 150kg. He wants to lift heavier, but his high-performance staff hold him back.

This is the obsessive athletic specimen the equally impressive Haney, unbeaten in 27 fights, will confront ... and why Kambosos is adamant he will triumph in a battle of wills.

“I am training like an animal,” says Kambosos (20-0, 10KO), now seven days out from the biggest fight of his career.

“My drive, my obsession, my ambition, my dedication, the sacrifices I put in, everything a true warrior has to have, I have it.

“I will implement all of it against Haney.

“When I became world champion, I wanted to see how my mindset would go. Would I get lazy? Would I be more content? More complacent?”

George Kambosos has been working on explosive power. Picture: Tim Hunter.

It’s all about getting stronger and faster.

Simple answer ... No.

“I have been doing 30-plus rounds like they are nothing,” he continues. “I am doing high-volume rounds. Sometimes I go to 35 rounds. I start in round one and I go through to round 35 with constant punching, punching, punching. My coach is like, ‘George, relax, we are ready to fight, take it easy’.

“I will be primed when I walk into the ring on June 5. My engine is better than ever and I can’t wait to show the world again that what I did that day against Lopez is no fluke.

“Since I beat Lopez, everything has gone to another level.”

That includes Kambosos’ strength in the gym. Mere mortals would do well to lift their own body weight. Kambosos squats almost two-and-a-half times his lean-and-mean 61kg frame.

“I run extremely hard but my strength-and-conditioning work has been the key to my improvement,” he says.

“After the Lopez fight, our plan was to get stronger and get bigger. Physically, I have more muscle on me. It hasn’t affected my hand speed at all. I am lifting better than ever. The numbers are off the charts. They are the highest I have ever done and it’s testament to my commitment as a fighter.

Kambosos knows how to lift heavy weight.

Kambosos putting in the hard work.

“I am squatting 140kg for a guy who fights at 61.8kg. I do three or four reps at high velocity. I can go heavier. I could squat 160kg no problem, but we have a long-term plan to keep building.

“For my single-arm presses, I use 35kg dumbbells and I’m deadlifting up to 150kg.

“It’s not only the weight. The key as a boxer is the speed at which you lift the weight and I’m doing it as fast and explosive as ever.”

The bedrock of the Kambosos fighting machine is his diet. When he was dropped by Lopez in the 10th round of their title blockbuster, Kambosos clambered to his feet, keeping faith in the dietary regimen that fuels his success.

Bloodied and seemingly broken, he won the final two rounds against Lopez on heart and fitness.

Diet. Dedication. Discipline.

“I am very sharp with my diet. I eat very clean,” he says.

“I take about 20 different vitamins a day and I am religious about my routine. The average person would say, ‘Oh my god how does he do this?’ but to be the best you have to be structured, continually evolving and have supreme mental toughness.

“I take Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, turmeric, garlic, B12, guarana, ginseng, high-dose fish oil, sometimes high-dose krill oil, organic spirulina, vitamin C, L-glutamine and BCAAs (Branched-chain amino acids).

“I drink three to four litres a day of alkaline water. I don’t wake up feeling as sore. I feel it flushes out all your lactic acid. It helps raise your PH levels and gets all the toxins and bad stuff out of your body.

“I love my sweets but when I’m in camp, the 12 weeks out from the fight there is no chocolates or sweets or any crap food.

“You don’t put normal fuel into a Ferrari, you have to put in premium fuel and that’s my attitude with my body.

“The body is an amazing thing if you treat it right.”

Kambosos has complete faith in his training program.

It is estimated Kambosos stands to pocket $10 million from his showdown with Haney. In a financial context, it’s another galaxy away from the meagre $800 he cobbled together from his professional fight debut nine years ago, when he personally sold tickets to fans at the King Tomislav Croatian Club in Sydney.

Kambosos is now set for life, but he has not cut the umbilical cord with the near penniless streetfighter who vowed never to be a one-hit wonder.

“I have been on such a hard long journey,” he says.

“I never lost sight of who I am and the person I was back then.

“If anything, I am hungrier now because I have more to lose.

“The critics can bag me and say I am a one-hit wonder but I will prove them wrong again.

“If I’m a one-hit wonder, I should have lost my pro debut, but I’ve won 20 consecutive fights.

“Haney will find out the hard way. There is no quit in me. There never is.”

Originally published as Boxing 2022: George Kambosos reveals his insane training regime before Devin Haney fight