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.”
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
RSS