Legendary trainer Teddy Atlas disagrees with unified lightweight champion George Kambosos’ underdog status for his first title defence against American Devin Haney at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
The betting market’s take on the bout shows the amount of confidence there is in Haney, 23, even though he has to travel to the other side of the world to fight the champ in front of thousands of fans in his home country.
Haney, will also go into the bout without his father and trainer in his corner due to visa issues, and will have an expected 45,000 vocal fans to contend with in a clash that will take place around 2pm in the afternoon to appease the TV audience in the US.
It’s virtually unheard of for a champion to be ranked as an outsider in a title defence, especially at home, which goes to show how Haney is viewed by the US sports market in general. Yet Atlas refused to buy into the way the bookies see the fight, saying Haney’s “pretty” style has most people fooled.
“Most people think Haney’s going to win, I’ll tell you why,” Atlas said on The Fight podcast this week.
“His finesse, his speed, his style, he’s pretty to watch. He’s a sharp shooter. He is a picturesque boxer. And I understand it.
“But there’s something that people aren’t bargaining on. Kambosos knows how to time you as he showed against Lopez where he was a big underdog. Timing beats speed. He knows how to throw at the right time and break down your speed advantage.”
Atlas said Haney’s chin is “not the rock of Gibraltar” and the WBC champion “gets hit clean in almost every fight before the final bell”.
Atlas, who has trained champions Wilfred Benitez, Tim Bradley, Shannon Briggs, Joey Gamache, Michael Moorer, and was an assistant to legendary trainer Cus D’Amato early on, believes the lessons he learnt from the legendary mentor will bear fruit in this match up.
The iconic trainer, who travelled to Australia to call the Jeff Horn v Manny Pacquiao fight for ESPN in 2017, also drew a comparison to that fight, saying Kambosos “doesn’t need as much help as Jeff Horn needed” from the crowd and the judges on Sunday at Marvel Stadium.
“Cus D’Amato drilled into my head, he won a title? That usually means they improve. Usually the rule of thumb, the old timers would say, ‘A guy wins a title – they improve 30 per cent’.
“If you add that in, I see the fight as Haney getting ahead but I can also see Kambosos being that guy that knows how to hang around and gets lifted by the outdoors, the roar of that crowd.
“A little bit like Jeff Horn was when he fought the great Manny Pacquiao. I did that fight. Jeff Horn did not win that fight, he fought gamely, courageously but he didn’t win that fight.
“Pacquiao should have won that fight but he had some things against him. The people that control that part of boxing, the judging, the administrative side. Kambosos doesn’t need as much help as Jeff Horn needed.”
As expected fight week has taken an explosive turn with the American’s remarks during a past interview being used as fuel by the Greek-raised undefeated Sydney fighter.
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The African-American star stated he will “never lose to a white boy” during his professional career, when asked how he rated his chances against Ukrainian star Vasily Lomachenko, who was initially offered the fight with Kambosos before pulling out to remain in the war-torn country.
“Listen, can’t (sic) no white boy beat me. I don’t care, on any day of the week,” Haney said in April 2020.
“I fight a white boy like 10 times, I’m gonna beat him 10 times.”
The controversial remarks provoked a heated reaction from the US boxing world at the time and Haney was forced to apologise, saying he had learnt a “valuable lesson”.
Kambosos played the mind games perfectly in the lead up to his clash with Teofimo Lopez, and wasn’t going to let a comment like that slip, calling on fans in attendance to make Haney’s life as hard as possible come Sunday.
“I have been made aware of those racial comments he made and to suggest he would never lose to a white man just sums up the type of person he is,” Kambosos said.
“It’s below the belt.
“It’s disrespectful to humanity, to all Australians and to white people around the world.
“One thing about me, I can talk the talk, but I am always respectful of people regardless of race, religion, colour or creed.
“I have some African-American friends and they are among the most beautiful people in the world.
“If he wants to bring race into it, that’s on him and he has to look at himself in the mirror and take responsibility for what he said and live with it.
“If he thinks no white man will beat him, well I am going to punch his head in on Sunday and maybe then he will get an appreciation for my ability.”
Scroll below for all the information you need on the big fight!
How to watch Kambosos vs Haney?
Kambosos vs Haney will be shown live on Main Event pay per view.
Fans will be charged $59.95.
When is Kambosos vs Haney?
Kambosos fights Haney on Sunday, May 5.
What time is Kambosos vs Haney?
The fight will take place on Sunday afternoon which will give fans in America the chance to watch the fight live on Saturday night in the US and Canada.
The first bout on the card is due to start at 9am, with Kambosos v Haney to fight around 2pm AEST.
Where is Kambosos vs Haney?
Marvel Stadium in Melbourne will play host to the monster bout, with 45,000 people expected to attend.
Kambosos vs Haney fight card
George Kambosos vs Devin Haney – lightweight
Jason Moloney vs Aston Palicte – bantamweight
Junior Fa vs Lucas Browne – heavyweight
Andrew Moloney vs Alexander Espinoza – super flyweight
Hemi Ahio vs Christian Tsoye – heavyweight
Terry Nikolas vs Lachlan Higgins – middleweight
Amari Jones vs Ankush Hooda – super welterweight
Taylah Robertson vs Sarah Higginson – flyweight
David Nyika vs Karim Mataala – cruiserweight
Yoel Angeloni vs Ken Aitken – welterweight
Hussein Fayad vs Pom Phetkum – super featherweight
Isaias Sette vs Luke Gersbeck – super welterweight
Kambosos vs. Haney betting odds
Haney is a slight favourite, with Palmerbet paying $2.25 for a Kambosos win head-to-head, while the American comes in at $1.67 (at the time of writing).
George Kambosos record
Kambosos is undefeated and has amassed a 20-0 record since his professional debut in 2013.
Kambosos’ last win by stoppage was in 2019 and he has gone the distance and won in his last three fights against Lopez, Lee Selby and Mickey Bey.
Devin Haney record
Haney holds a record of 27-0, with 15 wins by knockout.
His last four fights have all gone the distance, and his most recent stoppage win came over Zaur Abdullaev in 2019.
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