George Kambosos v Devin Haney: Australian champion says staredown told him something
Everything George Kambosos does is with intensity. So when it came to the staredown with Devin Haney it was always going to be enthralling viewing. Now the Aussie star reveals what he saw.
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The eyes have it.
George Kambosos, crackling with intensity, stared into the window of Devin Haney’s soul.
What he saw was the final confirmation of what ‘Ferocious’ steadfastly believes: that the Australian will conquer Haney on Sunday and make history as the first unified lightweight champion of the four-belt era.
Staredowns can be hackneyed, contrived preambles in the fight game but, for the throng that packed into the Richmond Rowing Club for Friday’s official press conference, the sight of Kambosos sizing up Haney was enthralling viewing nonetheless.
As staredowns go, it was a marathon performance. It lasted some 60 seconds. Like two gun-slingers in a Clint Eastwood western, Kambosos and Haney held firm. Their eyes locked in. Staring at destiny. Ignoring the hoopla around them as Haney’s supporters spat venom at Kambosos, screaming: “You are a little man George. You are scared George.”
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The man with the closest view was Kambosos’ father and manager Jim. He was centimetres away from his boy’s chiselled jawline.
Kambosos has seen countless staredowns. When Haney became the first man to blink, turning to pose for the cameras while Ferocious stood unmoved like a Hellenic statue, Kambosos Sr believed a psychological blow had been landed.
“Boy, it was intense,” Jim told News Corp.
“The thing is I saw something really interesting with Devin. That bottom jaw of his ... I saw a quiver in it.
“The longer that stare goes, you feel the eyes lock into each other. I really saw something there and George said later, ‘Dad, I saw it too’.”
What exactly did he see?
“A sign of nerves,” Jim said.
“The stare down tells you who is the top dog. It’s like who has got the bigger balls, really. It’s a matter of who will turn away first, who will flinch, who is going to make the slight movement feeling uncomfortable.
“I saw it with Devin. George has got him. This is a massive fight and Devin blinked first and turned away. George would have stared all day.
“When your opponent turns first, it’s a sign of weakness. It says to me, ‘I’m not comfortable here’.
“It has dawned on Haney a bit that we are two days out, so the moment is getting real now. They call him The Dream but it’s not a dream for him anymore.
“Devin buckled first ... and he will buckle again on Sunday.”
Asked about flinching first, Haney flashed his 1000-kilowatt smile.
“It means nothing,” he said. “All that matters is what happens in the ring on Sunday.”
If Kambosos Jr is defined by anything, it is his dogged determination. He wouldn’t want to lose a game of monopoly, let alone a staredown with Haney.
“I zoned in like I always do in a stare down,” he said.
“I could see the chinks in the armour, but now it’s worse.
“I noticed it. I saw him very nervous. I looked right into his eyes and he was very worried.
“I can see that he is here to fight, but he is not ready for a war. He is not ready to go into the trenches and when the war is on in that ring on Sunday, he won’t handle what this warrior brings to the table.”
KAMBOSOS PREPARED TO DIE FOR WORLD TITLE
Nick Smart
Australian boxing star George Kambosos Jr has revealed he is prepared to die in the ring at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, declaring “death on the battlefield is the highest honour.”
A crowd of about 50,000 is expected to pack out the Melbourne stadium for what is shaping as arguably the biggest fight in Australian boxing history.
The Greek Australian, who is 20-0 and owns the IBF, WBA, WBO, and The Ring Magazine belts, is fighting American Devin Haney (27-0 and WBC titleholder), with the winner to become the undisputed lightweight boxing world champion.
Kambosos Jr, who claims his paternal grandmother has Spartan ancestry, said he was willing to go to extreme lengths in order to triumph in front of his home crowd in the biggest fight of his life.
“I’m a Spartan warrior and death on the battlefield is the highest honour,” he told News Corp on Tuesday.
“Yes, I’ve got three kids but I’m doing something I love and this is my passion.
“Now I’ve gone and achieved something and taken all these belts, how can I give anything less than be ready to die with my shield?
“That’s how my mentality is, and I know he (Haney) is not prepared to go that deep.
“He just wants to get through this fight and go back home, whereas I am prepared to lay it on the line in front of my people and my home.
“I’m their champion and warrior defending their land.
“Marvel Stadium to me is a colosseum and I’m their gladiator ready to do battle.”
Kambosos Jr lit the fuse for Sunday’s showdown earlier this week, when he labelled his opponent a “rat” and an “informant”.
He revealed Haney helped him prepare for his upset victory over another American, Teófimo López, in New York last November by sending him messages with details about the López camp.
“If it rattled him or not I don’t care, I’m ready to rattle him on Sunday,” Kambosos Jr said on Tuesday.
“I was just telling the world the truth about what he was doing …. I think he was terrified of Lopez and he didn’t think he’d get stuck in the position of fighting me in my home town, but he’s got no choice and the world now knows.”
Kambosos Jr made a visit to AFL club Collingwood on Tuesday, where he spoke with a number of players, including skipper and boxing fan Scott Pendlebury.
“It’s great to be able to chat to the guys and they also just played in front of 80,000 in a massive game with a lot of pressure, and I’m about to do that now,” Kambosos Jr said.
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Originally published as George Kambosos v Devin Haney: Australian champion says staredown told him something
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