Australian boxer George Kambosos yesterday made weight on his second attempt for his world lightweight unification title fight against American Devin Haney.
The US-based Kambosos missed the 135-pound (61.2kg) limit initially, weighing in at 135.36 pounds.
He had two hours to return to the scales to ensure today’s fight before an expected crowd of 50,000 at Marvel Stadium could officially go ahead.
Photo: AFP
He returned 70 minutes later and weighed 134.36 pounds. He thrust his arms in the air once he made the weight and glared menacingly at Haney’s camp.
Looking to defend his three world titles in the division and take Haney’s prized WBC belt, Kambosos even removed all of his clothing during his first attempt, but was still over the limit during the weigh-in at Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.
Haney weighed in successfully on his first attempt at 134.92 pounds and criticized Kambosos, tweeting a clown emoji.
Photo: AFP
“He ain’t made weight,” Haney wrote. “I’m a true champion and true champions makes weight.”
Kambosos, 28, holds the WBO, WBA and IBF lightweight titles. He comes into the fight with an undefeated record of 20-0 with 10 KOs and won all three of his world titles when he beat Teofimo Lopez in 2019.
Haney is 23 and has an undefeated record of 27-0 with 15 KOs. He also had an amateur record of 138-8 and turned pro at the age of 17.
Former Australian boxer Jeff Fenech, who won world titles in three weight classes, joked during his television commentary that “you should never trust hotel scales.”
Fenech later praised Kambosos for taking on such a strong fighter in his first bout in Australia in five years, but predicted Haney would win the 12-round match.
Haney received good news when his appeal against the initial denial of a visa for his trainer and father, Bill, had been approved.
“Of course I’m happy to have my dad, but nothing changes,” Haney told FightTV. “I’ll still follow the same blueprint and do what we have to do to get the job done.”
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
RSS