Devin Haney retains the WBC belt and takes the lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO crown from George Kambosos Jr with unanimous (116-112, 116-112, 118-110) victory in a 12-round bout in front of 41,129 fans at Marvel Stadium; Kambosos Jr expects rematch: "We will do it again"
Sunday 5 June 2022 15:26, UK
Devin Haney is the new undisputed lightweight champion of the world after he beat George Kambosos Jr in Australia.
The American, 23, travelled to Melbourne to unify the division and was rewarded with a unanimous (116-112, 116-112, 118-110) victory in a 12-round bout in front of 41,129 fans at Marvel Stadium.
The win means the Las Vegas product retains the WBC belt and takes the lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO crown from the 28-year-old Australian.
Haney took his record to 28-0 (15 KOs) and became the first undisputed lightweight champion since the late Pernell Whitaker in 1990.
"This is a dream come true," said Haney. "I was comfortable. I was sticking to the game plan, the game plan was to go in and hit and not get hit and I did that for the majority of the fight.
"I took the last round off because I knew I was comfortably ahead, but I fought a good, smart fight."
Kambosos Jr, who became world champion when he scored a surprise win over Teofimo Lopez last November, threatened to ignite a cautious opening round with a late flurry of punches.
Haney, though, was unflustered by the Australian's attempts to impose himself, using his jab to steadily gain control of the fight and Kambosos' face started to mark up under the eyes by the halfway point.
The American was pushed to the canvas during the eighth and Kambosos Jr upped his tempo in the next round but, with his opponent continuing to prove elusive, the home boxer grew increasingly frustrated.
Kambosos Jr was unable to make much of an impression on the 23-year-old, however, and in the end the judges handed Haney a comfortable margin of victory, with two judges scoring the bout 116-112 and the other giving the American a 118-110 win.
"I want to take the best test, the hardest test and I'm going to give him full respect for his victory and let him have his time," said Kambosos Jr, who lost for the first time in 21 fights.
"We'll do it again. I have to implement a few things but I thought the fight was very close."
On a busy night at the Marvel Stadium, Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne rolled back the years when he shocked Junior Fa with a first round knockout win.
Jason Moloney also put himself back in world title contention with a spectacular knockout victory over Aston Palicte.
Speaking after the fight Moloney said he has earned another shot at a world title and is targeting Liverpool's new WBO champ Paul Butler.
