Boxer George Kambosos Jr says he’ll be sending Devin Haney home without any gold in his suitcase, pledging to “send him back to America” without his title belt.
The Australian will put his WBO, WBA and IBF lightweight championships on the line when he takes on Haney, with the goal of snagging the WBC title to add to his collection.
The fight will take place at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on June 5.
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“This is the fight that the world has been waiting for and I can’t wait to share this experience with my family, my friends and my country on June 5 at Marvel Stadium.” Kambosos told reporters on Thursday.
“My phone has been buzzing since the date and venue were announced. It’s very humbling to know you have the support of an entire country and it also gives me strength to know I will have them all in my corner come June 5.
“I want Haney to know when he walks out that while it may be in the ring, there are literally millions of my people both in Australia and in Greece that have my back. I want to blow the roof off and send him back to America without that WBC belt”.
Despite the hometown advantage, Kambosos remains an outsider with the bookmakers, hovering at around the $2.40 mark – although he’s not nearly as much as an outsider as he was when he shocked Teofimo Lopez in December.
But you wouldn’t know he was the outsider from the build-up so far, with Haney the one pledging to shock the confident Australian – including earlier this month when the American took exception to being called a kid, and being told that he had been chosen for this fight rather than earning it.
He doubled down, saying he was looking forward to playing the villain in front of a hostile crowd, and that he had definitely earned his shot.
If Haney wins, he will immediately owe Kambosos a rematch, which will also be in Australia.
“Most people wouldn’t have chosen to go to Australia twice, especially many champions wouldn’t have accepted that,” he told BoxingScene this week.
“But, you know, I trusted my talent, I trusted my skills and I feel like if we would fight 10 times in Australia, then I would beat him 10 times. So, I know once I beat him once, he probably wouldn’t even wanna fight me the second time.”
Fresh off his own success on Wednesday, Michael Zerafa praised his “good mate” Kambosos for what he was doing for the sport.
“For him to put Australian boxing back on the map, I’m super proud,” Zerafa told AAP.
“He’s come from a hard upbringing like myself and he put it all on the line and shined, so I’m super happy for him and a Marvel Stadium fight will be epic.”
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