‘George lost the fight’: Kambosos title tactics torn to shreds

George Kambosos Jr. won his titles by following the game plan to a tee but the same could not be said as Devin Haney made history in Melbourne.

Haney kept Kambosos at distance. Photo by Michael Klein

Devin Haney told the world what he would do in this fight at the press conference on Friday: “I will come out victorious by any means”.

Now most fighters say the same thing but circumstances change what happens.

For Haney, the American came to these shores with a plan to take home the undisputed title, never straying from the plan and getting drawn into a brawl.

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Both men’s records pointed towards the fight going the distance as neither man is a renowned knockout artist and finish fights only around half the time.

So rather than going for the KO, Haney did the smart thing, sitting behind his jab, racking up the rounds and trying to goad George Kambosos Jr. into a rash moment.

Compubox revealed that Haney landed more than twice as many jabs — 78 to 32 — while the pair were even in nearly every other punch category.

It wasn’t the prettiest of fights despite some good strikes from both sides, but it got the job done for the American.

Haney was patient, he was calm, and he is now the undisputed world champion.

Devin Haney is king of the lightweights. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

In his world championship fight against Teofimo Lopez, Kambosos had to shock the champ.

He had been disrespected, downplayed and earned a first round knockdown to show the American he meant business.

For a man who sees himself as the ANZAC Spartan, mixing his Australia and Greek heritage, Kambosos no longer had the element of surprise against Haney and the American didn’t want to fight on the inside, where Kambosos would be most effective.

Haney used his reach, his footwork and evasive action and kept away allowing himself.

After the fight, Aussie boxing legend Jeff Fenech said Kambosos needed to come out as strong as he did against Lopez to put the 23-year-old American off his game.

“Exactly what I said at the start, if George was going to win the fight, he had to win the early rounds, he had to put his force on the fight,” he explained.

“The first round, that was probably the closest round, I just thought he let Devin take control of the fight with his jab, didn’t put much pressure on him. George lost the fight. Of course Devin won it, but if there was another fight, it’s winnable for George if he puts the pressure on and fights the right fight.”

Devin Haney did what he needed to do to win. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Paul Kent said he believed that 118-110 “was about the speed of it”.

“George needed to adjust about round five or six,” he said. “What he needed to do … there were times there that he started to land cleanly but rather than stay on Haney when he was within punching position, he bounced back onto his feet and into his guard position.

“I think that was basically where he lost the fight because what he was not doing was staying there to land punches. And at distance, Haney was clearly the superior fighter. If they fight again, he’s got to practice getting into Haney and then when he gets there, stay there.”

Fenech agreed: “If you hit him, you’ve got to hit him again. You’ve got to punch him with threes and fours. He hit him with ones and twos on occasion but as soon as that one-two hit, he’d bounce back.”

The pair also said Kambosos’ corner should have showed more urgency in the earlier rounds.

Kent added that he would have liked Kambosos turn the fight into a brawl “but he never did that”.

“He had to take some risks because he was getting outboxed from the first round and he needed to realise, his corner needed to realised this and say to him ‘take some risks’,” he said.

Fenech said: “If it was me, I would have been screaming my head off. George didn’t take risk for reward today. He took risk against Teofimo Lopez and he got reward. In this fight he didn’t.”

Post-fight, far from the way Lopez claimed he’d won “10-2”, Kambosos was gracious in defeat.

Jeff Fenech took aim at Kambosos’ corner for not being urgent enough. Photo by Michael Klein

He even brought his belts to Haney and allowed him to have his moment after the incredible performance.

That was despite the fighters’ fathers sharing words in the ring.

Kambosos had to give it up to Haney for his game plan.

“He had a smart game plan, he grabbed and held a lot and did what he needed to do to win,” Kambosos said in the ring after the fight.

“That’s what it’s about, you do what you have to do to win and today they gave him the decision and I’m sure it’ll change when we get it on again. Respect to him, respect to boxing, this is boxing.

“You fight the best, win lose or draw, this is what it’s about. F*ck protecting records, I’ve always been about fighting the best, I gave him a shot — let’s do it again.”

Asked about his plan during the press conference, Haney said he didn’t want to get ahead of himself and tried to keep an even tempo throughout the fight.

“I was just staying relaxed,” he said. “I could have picked it up but I was in his backyard so I just wanted to see spark and fight my fight. When I wanted to fight, I was fighting at my rhythm and taking away his best attributes. And that’s what I did.”