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6 months agoon
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Michael WoodsBehold the rematch nobody asked for: Devin Haney, the 23 year old lightweight ace, will fight George Kambosos on Sunday, Oct. 16, because…well, because this is the boxing business, and the preferences of the customers, the fans, are only sporadically catered to.
Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) met Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs;) back in June, you recall, and had an easy work night against the 29 year old Aussie, who was hoping to show hometown fans the skills he used to wrest the IBF 135 pound crown off Teofimo Lopez in November 2021. (Click here to read Gayle Falkenthal take on Haney-Kambosos I).
Should have been “one and done” for Devin Haney and George Kambosos, this is a sequel NOBODY asked for.
So, wait, why is a sequel being presented? Because Team Kambosos had leverage, in the form of the IBF belt, and they managed to parlay that into a contractual clause which forced a sequel.
Kambosos himself provided reasoning why this pre-planned rematch was a bad idea. Haney co-promoter Bob Arum agreed to the pre-planned sequel, and he even came out against it: “I think that rematch clauses are bad for boxing. I understand why fighters and promoters want them, it’s a business, but it’s bad for the sport,” said Arum when asked about this peculiar setup.
Hey, if this turns out to be a barn-burner, and Kambosos is competitive and makes a fight of it at Rod Laver Stadium in Melbourne, then I will stand corrected. But from this seat, this scrap got made to make money, and for no other reason. The customers, ie boxing fans, are not being factored in, but that is par for the course these days, way too often.
Per BetMGM, Devin Haney is the favorite at -700, and George Kambosos Jr. is the underdog at +500.
Main event ringwalk time could change due to the length of the undercard fights. Undercard fights will be shown live on ESPN+. That schedule will be included later in the week on NYFights.
Strong reinforcements in Melbourne 🇦🇺🔥#HaneyKambosos2 | OCT 15 | ESPN pic.twitter.com/JJ4NCzrusA
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 8, 2022
Just something about being from The Town.@RealDevinHaney 🤝 @Dame_Lillard
Rooted in Oakland: Devin Haney | Tonight at 10PM ET on ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/AvI9GWGLf6
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 10, 2022
Editor/publisher Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the thought to be impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist Woods has covered the sport since then, for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, ESPN New York, RING, and he was editor of TheSweetScience.com from 2007-2015. Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live since 2017. He now does work for PROBOX TV, the first truly global boxing network.