Devin Haney was ready to step up and fly to Australia to fight George Camposos Jr. for the undisputed lightweight championship on Saturday night. This proved to be a very lucrative decision for Haney as he dominated Kambosos across 12 rounds to win all four world championships for £135.
Haney becomes the ninth fighter to unite all four recognized titles in any weight class and the second youngest at just 23 years old.
There was very little drama in the match, as Haney immediately established a fine strike that prevented Camposos from sparking his attack. When the punch fell, Haney fired a left hook and straight right hands behind her, each shot discouraging Kambosos from letting go of his right hand that he seemed to hold all night.
In the end, Haney snatched the unanimous winning decision with the official scorecards reading 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.
“I held him back in his best match,” Hani said after the fight. “He wanted to land in the right hand and the big left hook. I held him back. I was fighting both ways. When I went to the left I was fighting with his right hand. When I went to the right, I was fighting a hook. Neither could land.”
WBC co-star Haney wasn’t the man originally set to face Kambosos after Kambosos’ surprise surprise win over Teofimo Lopez to take the WBC franchise along with the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Camposos’ original plan was to defend against former champion Vasily Lomachenko. When Lomachenko withdrew from the match to stay in his native Ukraine after the Russian invasion of the country, Haney had an opportunity to silence critics who claimed his WBC title was illegitimate when he was promoted from interim champion when Lomachenko was named franchise champion by WBC.
After a rocky build to a fight that saw Campossus being used frequently to talk trash, Haney’s dad arrived the night before the fight and Campusus lost weight on his first attempt, Haney was calm from the jump, looking like an accomplished boxer every time as he shut down completely. Kambosos and painted the Australian’s face with a steady diet of punches.
Camposos would have a chance for revenge as the fight with Haney included a clause in the rematch which also stated that Haney would have to return to Australia should he win the first round.
Kambosos explained that he had every intention of activating this item when speaking after a fight.
“I will give him my full respect, let him take his time and we will do it again,” Camposos said. “I thought a fight was very imminent but I wouldn’t break his moment… I’ll see him very soon.”
Stephen Fulton dominates Daniel Roman
It wasn’t Kambosos vs. Haney is the only fight on Saturday night with multiple world championships at stake. Stephen Fulton defended his WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles against Daniel Roman in Minneapolis.
Similar to Haney’s win, Fulton used movement and a punch to set the tone for all twelve rounds of action with Roman trying to squeeze in but finding every exit attempt stifled.
Fulton simply outdid the Romans and outsmarted the Romans at every turn, turning a battle that was likely to be one of the best battles of the year into a one-sided defeat. The official match scorecards read 119-109, 120-108 and 120-108.
Fulton is now turning his attention to his goal of meeting WBA and FIFA champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev in a unification four-belt later in the year.
CBS Sports was with you all the way on Saturday for both events, so be sure to catch up on the live scores and highlights below.
Results, highlights
- Devin Haney (c) def. Jorge Camposos Jr. by unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 118-110)
- Stephen Fulton (c) def. Daniel Roman by unanimous decision (119-109, 120-108, 120-108)
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