HANEY VS KAMBOSOS 2.0: AN UNDERWHELMING EMPEROR OR A FEROCIOUS COMEBACK?

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When George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney last met on June 5th, I believe that most bystanders left the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne feeling that the former unified world Champion flattered to deceive and had “relinquished” his titles too easily. In this modern era of 2 fights per annum, we have firs and foremost to commend fighters and promoters alike for “running it back” in just 4 months.
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I must make clean breast of it and recognize that I’m not exactly the biggest fan of Haney, I neither care too much for his in-ring product, nor for the blowhard fashion in which his entourage carry themselves. I’ve followed Haney’s career since its inception, as I’ve always adhered to the notion that he was a differentiated young prospect.
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I’ve never regarded Haney as an otherworldly athlete, I mostly see him as a technically sound fighter with a somewhat humdrum and bromidic style. I see his main strengths (pun intended) as being his physical strength and his size. He always seems quite large when compared to other lightweights and I imagine him soon moving up to a more natural weight of 140 pounds.
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I think he is in a position to make a lot of money and get a lot of media attention in the coming couple of years, should he prove capable of keep boiling down to 135 pounds. He’s having 2 high-profile fights with Kambosos, and should he again come out victorious on Sunday, it seems quite conjecturable that in 2023 he’ll be fighting Vasyl Lomachenko on 1 or 2 occasions, and those will suit me and Boxing’s fandome just fine. So if nothing else, his career we’ll have these 3 or 4 “distingué” bouts on its ledger.
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Not attempting to look too far ahead, but how would Haney fare vs Lamochenko? It could very well be that Haney will be getting “Loma” at the right juncture of his career, considering that the Ukrainian wizard is 11 years his senior, and quite possibly has been on (a gradual) downslide since early 2019. I have little doubt by now that Haney is the real deal and a bonafide top notch fighter but just how good a fighter or “spoiler” he is, that we’ll come to find out in the coming couple of years.
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Should he beat Kambosos and be competitive enough with Loma to merit a 2nd fight, those will be 4 very good “proving grounds” for him, and it’s quite conceivable that Haney is simply too big, too strong, too awkward and too young for either one of them. Should he overcome them both on a couple of occasions, he’ll have his pick of other bankroll generating extravaganzas. The public will demand a “pugilistique rendezvous” with the likes of Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and Shakur Stevenson.
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Correspondingly, should Loma come up short vs Haney, I’m certain that Top Rank will be all too glad and eager to “feed” a by then near 36 year old Lomachenko to up and coming Shakur Stevenson. I hate to sound cynical (and I’d gladly be proven equivocated) but I doubt a year from now Haney (or Loma) will be any closer to a fight with Gervonta Davis. I think more likely, if Haney overcomes Lomachenko (and Kambosos), an easier fight to make would be against the “overeager” (and hyperactive?)  Ryan Garcia. And it’s also quite feasible that within a year’s time, Top Rank will be ready to gamble Stevenson vs Haney.
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I place a great deal of confidence that Shakur is the one to eventually rule (if you’ll pardon the Tolkienism) and beat them all, it’s all a question of when, and that’s up to good matchmaking. As for this coming Sunday, it seems logical to assume that Haney has improved since June, but I also think that we’ll see a more competitive and physical fight where Mr Kambosos will seek battle with far greater ambition.
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I see Kambosos going for the gusto and making it a rougher (and possibly dirtier and more “desperate“) engagement, but I suspect that the superior talent (Haney) will once again come out on top.
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One also cannot help but wonder if Kambosos was not overrated after his semi-shocking win over Teofimo López a year ago. Perhaps he just caught “Teo” on an “off night” or in a weakened condition. Because other than that and going the distance with Haney, what has the Australian done to assert himself in our considerations? Very little as I see it. He’s unimpeachably a good fighter, just not as good as he appeared to be in the context of his title(s) winning effort.
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FUNDORA VS OCAMPOS:
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Last week I saw the Sebastian Fundora vs Carlos Ocampos fight. I was not at all impressed with the markee fighter (Fundora). I consider the young (and extremely tall) Californian to be a good contender in the Junior-Middleweight division, but I don’t see him as a suitable “pretender” for the top slot presently occupied by Jermell Charlo. Simply stated, I see Fundora’s power as questionable and his chin with question marks surrounding it.
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I conclude that too much was made of Fundora’s KO victory over Erickson Lubin back in April. I’ve never ranked Lubin as a top fighter, or even as a top prospect, as I basically see Lubin as a fat welterweight who simply does not have the talent or maturity to make a serious dent at 154 pounds.
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I hope Lubin wises up, and maybe get new staff around him before he hurts himself or his career. I’m not a big fan of the division’s talent, as names like Tony Harrison, Tim Tszyu, Brian Castaño, Jarrett Hurd, Danny Garcia and Liam Smith “arouse” me very little. Charlo reigns (and rightfully so) supreme over what is in my eyes a weak division, and I do not consider it a travesty that Jermell is not regarded as a “pound for pound” fighter. Grievously he has become “king” without facing any real noteworthy “remonstrations”.
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For Fundora‘s career’s sake, I hope his handlers will get him a couple more fights against top 15 opponents before charging him into a title fight, I don’t see him as ready, and may be he’ll never be up to that challenge. Sorry to say it, but I see him mostly as an “oddity“, for all one knows, well-suited for this marketing heavy era of style over substance.
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LADIES NIGHT:
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Much has been made of the much ballyhooed upcoming confrontation between Savannah Marshall vs Claressa Shields. To a degree, I see it as a “fraud“, unworthy of so much publicity and budgetary consideration from the folks at Sky, as I recognize 99% of women’s boxing as a shameless “freak show“, filled to the brim with poor technicians and out of shape (at times even grossly obese) loutish , clout/fame chasing, “athletes” more suited for “The Jerry Springer Show“.
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Sorry for the 1% who do boast discipline, genuine ability and communication skills. I also wonder about the propagated medical correlations that getting punched in the bosoms increases (significantly) the prospect of “contracting” breast cancer.
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This is Boxing, and of course anything can happen. But despite all the hype encompassing it, I fully expected Shields (whose “ghetto temperament” act(?) can often be insufferable and stridulent) to come out victorious, maybe even by shocking (to English media and fans ) KO.
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As for the Mikaela Mayer vs Alycia Baumgardner, I have a sneaky suspicion that the “underbitch” (Baumgardner) will show herself to be a greater obstacle than most pundits (and bookies) expect.
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HEAVY(OVER)WEIGHT MUSINGS:
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Comebacking “star attraction” Wilder is returning vs Robert Helenius. I could not care less! Helenius is a “bum“, a win over him means very little in my book, and a loss to him will simply entail that Wilder is a “shot” fighter.
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ENTERTAINMENT INTROSPECTIONS:
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This past week I’ve been “overindulging” on “IRMA VEP“. I’ve (expeditiously) come to the realization that they were a near 8 hours of my treasured lifetime that will never be fully restored to me. It’s an uninteresting TV series through which I had to “fast-forward” on a number of occasions, although I did like the vibe of modern “young” and hip Paris.
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Everybody (even the elder  and tertiary characters)  just seems effortlessly cooler, more graceful and casually elegant. It’s quite a difference from American settings where everybody seems to be obese, neurotic and “loud“.
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I’d say that he highpoints of the series have been a very charismatic and previously unknown (to me) German actor by the name of Lars Eidinger, and also the introduction of one Devon Ross, who I assume must be the most recent model turned actress. She quietly exudes a certain coolness and easygoingness that cannot be understated. Does’t have much dialogue, but she  more than makes up for it by possessing very expressive facial expressions.
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As for Alicia Vikander, she is no longer the hot (and cool, sexy and uber girlish) and fresh-faced (she now looks incontrovertibly “tired” and jaded, her youthful enthusiasm and ambition seem all but gone) young European sylph that 6 years ago I anointed as “the next Keira Knightley“.
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I “fear” that at the mere age of 34, her best days as a commercial actress are now behind her, and sadly, she did not capitalize on her mediatic apex of 2016–2018. Too many poor choices of movies (and TV series) and at times, too few movies per year. At the very least, she found a nice place to live, Alfama.
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Wallack’s Point,
Friday, October 14th, 2022
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Text: Ronald William Miller.
Image: All rights reserved.
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