Featured Articles
Devin Haney Says George Kambosos ‘Is Desperate’

Devin Haney returns to Australia to face George Kambosos Jr. in a rematch. From an emotional point of view, it’s a completely different situation than when they faced each other in June, when Haney won convincingly despite consenting to a group of adverse factors.
The undefeated American Devin “The Dream”” Haney (28-0-0, 15 KOs) and Australian George “Ferocious” Kambosos Jr. (20-1-0, 10 KOs) will meet again in the main event on Saturday, October 16th (15th in the United States), at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. The event will be televised by ESPN and ESPN+.
Now, for the second time, Haney will once again have almost the entire crowd supporting Kambosos (20-1-0, 10 KOs) – and consequently the indisputable pressure exerted on the “respectable” judges’ assessment. This time the American will have his entire team with him, including his father and coach who didn’t arrive on the Mainland Island until a few hours before the previous match due to difficulties with his visa.
Another aspect that may favor the twenty-three-year-old Haney is the enormous desire that Kambosos Jr. has to recover the three belts that he won from Teofimo Lopez that Haney snatched from him by unanimous decision in June at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
This eagerness to emerge victorious could lead Kambosos Jr. to make tactical errors, to launch a suicidal attack, without a solid defense. Without a doubt, Haney will take advantage of this and conquer Kambosos Jr. for the second time, thus keeping the four belts (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO) in his possession.
Haney himself stated that Kambosos Jr. “is desperate” and even the Australian has repeatedly said that if he suffers another setback, he could hang up the gloves for good.
“Australia has been great. Definitely better than the first time, having my full team and my dad here. I’m excited about the fight. I’ve been preparing great and I can’t wait,” said Devin Haney with obvious satisfaction.
Haney expressed that he will again depend on his boxing abilities to achieve victory, regardless of the strategy that Kambosos Jr. uses this time.
“I think my game plan kept Kambosos from his best attributes in the first fight, which I will do again in the second fight. We just got to see. I know he’s going to come up with a different approach and a different game plan this time around.
“We can always get better. His game plan will be a little bit different and he will try to be a little scrappy. He’s desperate. He said if he didn’t win, he’s going to retire. I’m just going to go in there and stick to my game plan, and how it plays out is how it plays out. I’m prepared for a good fight. I’m much stronger than even the last fight,” Haney said.
HANEY SILENCED THE CROWD IN JUNE
With a good boxing performance and for a good part of the confrontation with Kambosos Jr, Haney silenced the more than 40,000 fans who attended Marvel Stadium. Throughout the fight, Haney used his jab and quick defensive movements, which his opponent had a difficult time deciphering.
Although Haney dominated from start to finish, judges Zoltan Enyedi (Hungary) and Benoit Russell (Canada) awarded votes of just 116-112 in favor of the American. The decision was also backed by Pawel Kardyni (Poland) with a score of 118-110, which was a more accurate score considering what actually transpired in the ring.
Unable to connect solidly due to the masterful performance of his opponent, Kambosos Jr. conceded defeat and immediately opened the doors to a second challenge. One of the clauses of the contract which Haney had to sign in order to make the fight happen established that in case of a Haney victory -as it so happened- the rematch would take place in Australian territory.
“This was amazing for the sport. It was amazing for the country,” Kambosos Jr. twenty-eight, said after the fight and while still in the ring. “At the end of the day, I wanted to take the best and hardest tests. I’m going to give him full respect after his victory today. Let him have his time, and we’ll do it again.”
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Alexis Rocha KOs Brave but Overmatched George Ashie on DAZN.

Golden Boy Promotions’ potted their first offering of 2023 at the recently opened YouTube Theater, a 6,000-seat venue situated inside the stadium built to house LA’s two NFL franchises. The main event was a scheduled 12-round welterweight match between Alexis Rocha, a southpaw from nearby Santa Ana and George Ashie, a 38-year-old Ghanaian making his U.S. debut. Ashie was a late substitute for Anthony Young who reportedly suffered a nose injury in training. The match and supporting bouts were live-streamed on DAZN.
Ashie, who was fighting above his normal weight class and carried a career-high 146 pounds, was brave but out-gunned. Rocha knocked him down in the third frame with a right hook and hurt him several more times as the fight progressed although Ashie never stopped trying. In round six, an accidental clash of heads left Rocha with a nasty cut on his left eyebrow. He fought with more urgency after this incident and knocked Ashie out cold in the next round. The official time was 2:08 of round seven.
It was the fifth straight win for Rocha who improved his ledger to 22-1 (14 KOs). After the bout, he expressed an interest in fighting Terence Crawford. Ashie fell to 33-6-1 (25).
Other Bouts of Note
Floyd “Austin Kid” Schofield, a precocious 20-year-old lightweight, had Albert Mercado on the canvas in the second round but was unable to put him away despite hurting him multiple times and went 10 rounds for the first time in his young career.
Schofield, the 2022 TSS Prospect of the Year, improved to 13-0 (11), winning 100-89 on all three cards. Mercado, a 35-year-old Connecticut-born Puerto Rican, declined to 17-5-1 but retained his distinction of having never stopped.
Super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist for Uzbekistan who lives and trains in Indio, California, overpowered San Diego’s Ulises Sierra who was on the deck twice from body punches before the fight was waived off at the 2:59 mark of round three. It was the fourth straight victory for Melikuziev (11-1, 9 KOs) after suffering a stunning one-punch knockout at the hands of seemingly shopworn Gabriel Rosado with whom he is pursuing a rematch. Sierra was 17-2-2 heading in with eight of his wins coming in Mexico.
In a match framed as a WBO minimumweight title eliminator, Oscar Collazo (6-0, 4 KOs) scored an impressive fifth-round stoppage of Yudel Reyes. Collazo knocked Reyes down twice in the fifth round, the second with a vicious right hand that put Reyes down so hard that the referee didn’t bother to count. The official time was 2:59 of round five.
In theory, Collazo’s next fight will come against the Filipino Melvin Jerusalem who won the title earlier this month with a second-round stoppage of Masataka Taniguchi in Osaka. Reyes, a 26-year-old Mexican making his U.S. debut, declined to 15-2.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
Featured Articles
Artur Beterbiev TKOs Anthony Yarde in a London Firefight

The presumption, echoed by ESPN boxing commentator Bernardo Osuna, was that tonight’s bout at Wembley Arena in London between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde would be explosive and entertaining for as long as it lasted. That proved to be true and when the smoke cleared, Beterbiev, the rugged Montreal-based Russian had retained his three light heavyweight title belts and had added another knockout to his ledger, his nineteenth as a pro in as many opportunities.
Both men landed hard shots during the fight and both were marked up at the finish. Yarde had a cut under his right eye and Beterbiev had a cut on his left eyelid.
A chopping right hand from Beterbiev late in the first minute of the eighth round marked the beginning of the end for Yarde, the muscular 31-year-old Londoner who entered the contest sporting a record of 23-2 with 22 knockouts. The punch sent him reeling backward toward his corner where he landed on his knees. He beat the count, but turned toward his corner rather than referee Steve Gray.
Gray let the bout continue, but Beterbiev pressed his advantage and after a few more unanswered punches Yarde’s trainer Tunde Ajayi stepped up on the ring apron and summoned Gray to stop it. The official time was 2:01 of round eight.
Beterbiev hasn’t lost since losing a decision to amateur nemesis Oleksandr Usyk in the quarter finals of the 2012 London Olympics. At age 38, he shows no signs of slowing down.
In his post-fight interview, the self-effacing Russian said, “I hope some day I will be a good boxer,” and acknowledged that he would welcome a unification fight with fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol, the WBA title-holder.
WBA Title Fight
In a bout that was in theory the co-feature but went off during the earlier portion of the ESPN+ livestream, Artem Dalakian (21-0, 15 KOs) retained his WBA world flyweight title with a unanimous and somewhat controversial 12-round unanimous decision over Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (12-1). The judges had it 116-112 and 115-113 twice.
An Azerbaijan-born Ukrainian, Dalakian was making the sixth defense of the title he won in 2018 with a 12-round decision over Brian Viloria in Los Angeles in his lone previous appearance at a venue in the English-speaking world. His five title defenses were in Kiev. Jimenez was coming off a 12-round majority decision over Ricardo Sandoval in what ranked as one of the bigger upsets of 2021.
A Split for the Itauma Brothers
Promoter Frank Warren’s newest signee, 18-year-old heavyweight Moses Itauma, made a big splash in his pro debut, blasting out Czechoslovakia’s Marcel Bode (2-2) in 23 seconds. Moses and his older brother Karol Itauma are sons of a British citizen of Nigerian ancestry and a Slovakian mother.
In a shocking upset, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, a 36-year-old Argentine who had lost six of his previous eight fights, forged a fifth-round stoppage of well-touted Karol Itauma who was 9-0 (7 KOs) as a pro coming in. Itauma ate numerous straight right hands before a straight right hand knocked him down for the count. The official time was 1:04 of round five. Maderna improved to 29-10 (11).
Also
The Frankham cousins, super welterweight Joshua and super featherweight Charles, improved their ledgers to 7-0 with 6-round shutouts over their respective opponents. The cousins are grandsons of John “Gypsy Johnny” Frankham, a former British light heavyweight champion.
Featured Articles
Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury on Feb. 26 in a Potential Pay-Per-View Blockbuster

It’s now official. The twice-postponed “grudge match” between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury will come to fruition on Sunday, Feb. 26, at Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An 8-rounder contested at a catch-weight of 185 pounds, the match and several supporting bouts will air in the U.S. on ESPN+ PPV at a cost of $49.99.
The hook for this promotion – a come-hither that will be hammered home incessantly in the coming weeks – is that Jake Paul will finally touch gloves with a legitimate professional boxer. Paul’s previous opponents were a fellow YouTube influencer (AnEsonGib), a retired NBA player (Nate Robinson), and three former MMA champions: Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva. He fought Woodley twice.
Tommy Fury, the half-brother of reigning WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, made his pro debut in December of 2018 in a four-round bout in his hometown of Manchester. He was two fights into his pro career when he became a contestant on the TV reality show “Love Island.” An enormously popular show in Great Britain, especially among the coveted 18-34 demographic, “Love Island” was in its fifth season.
Fury was paired with supermodel Molly-Mae Hague with whom he finished second. They developed a great chemistry, on and off the set, became engaged, and purportedly welcomed a baby girl this week.
What about Tommy Fury the boxer? How legitimate is he?
Fury’s record currently stands at 8-0 (4 KOs). His first opponent was a professional loser from Latvia whose current ledger reads 10-113-3. His next six opponents were a combined 4-73-2. Finally, in his last fight, which occurred in April of last year, he met an opponent with a good record, Poland’s Daniel Bocianski, who was 10-1. But look closer and one discovers that all but one of Bocianski’s 10 triumphs came against opponents with losing records. The exception was a 6-round decision over a fellow Pole whose record currently stands at 18-16-1 and who has been stopped 13 times.
Fury bloodied Bocianski and won a wide 6-round decision, but his performance was underwhelming. “Fury had the Hollywood teeth, tan, and diamante-colored shorts,” wrote Chasinga Malata of the London Sun, “leaving only his performance without sheen and sparkle.”
There is nothing in Tommy Fury’s background, aside from his biological pedigree, to suggest that he has the tools to become a world-class boxer. If he were a member of the Three Stooges, he would be Shemp.
Jake Paul, by contrast, may actually be legit. Those in the know that have watched him train have come away impressed. It says here that Paul isn’t moving up in class on Feb. 26; it’s the other way around.
In the co-feature, Ilunga Makabu (29-2, 25 KOs) will make the third defense of his WBC world cruiserweight title against Badou Jack (27-3-3, 16 KOs). A Congolese-South African, Makabu is the older brother of heavyweight contender Martin Bakole. Jack, four years older than Makabu at age 39, formerly held world titles at 168 and 175 pounds.
Although Badou Jack was born in Sweden and keeps a home in Las Vegas where he has long been affiliated with the Mayweather Boxing Club, he will have the home field advantage in Saudi Arabia where he has cultivated a loyal following. A devout Muslim, Jack will be making his fourth straight start in the Persian Gulf Region. In his last outing, he outpointed Richard “Popeye” Rivera at Jeddah, winning a 10-round split decision.

Badou Jack
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
-
Featured Articles5 days ago
Boxing Odds and Ends: A New Foe for Broner and an Intriguing Heavyweight Match-up
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
Jermaine Franklin and Otto Wallin; Losing Can Be Winning, or Not
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
A Shocker in Manchester: Liam Smith Stops Chris Eubank Jr in Four
-
Featured Articles4 days ago
Artur Beterbiev: “I’d prefer to fight Bivol because he has the one thing I need”
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Anthony Yarde: “I am at my best when I fight fire with fire.”
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap 218: Looking for Mr. Good Year
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
For Whom the Bell Tolled: 2022 Boxing Obituaries PART TWO (July-Dec.)
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
For Whom the Bell Tolled: 2022 Boxing Obituaries PART ONE (Jan.-June)