Haney-Kambosos 2: Devin Haney 1-on-1 with Kevin Iole
Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole interviews Devin Haney ahead of his undisputed lightweight title defense against former champion George Kambosos. Haney breaks down their first fight in Australia and talks about how he sees the second fight going his way.
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KEVIN IOLE: What is up, everybody? I am Kevin Iole. And my favorite word in boxing these days is undisputed, because we don't have any BS, we don't have any nonsense. We know who the champion is. And right now, the lightweight champion of the world is with me.
Devin Haney, The Dream, will defend his title for the first time when he meets George Kambosos in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday, October 15. You can see that on ESPN, ESPN Plus, ESPN Deportes, all that kind of stuff. Devin, how are you, my friend?
DEVIN HANEY: Doing great. How are you?
KEVIN IOLE: I am awesome. You're already down there in Australia, getting acclimated to the time change and the weather. Let's start off with this. You fought in October, won an undisputed championship in a brilliant performance.
I'm not sure how two judges gave George Kambosos four rounds, to be honest with you. Did that surprise you when you heard that he won four rounds on two judges' cards?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, it definitely surprised me. I mean, it was hard for me to give him a second of the fight, so him getting four rounds was surprising. But at the end of the day-- at the end of the day, that fight is over with and we move forward. And October 15 there, or 16 here is-- it will be a new fight. And that's our main focus.
KEVIN IOLE: Did that give you any concern going into this fight? Because you know you're in Australia a second time. He's the hometown guy. If he does a little better than he did last time, does that concern you at all?
DEVIN HANEY: No. No, doesn't concern me. My main focus is going in there sticking to my game plan and winning. You know, I'm not focused on nothing that he's going to bring to the table, nothing that he can do because I'm so focused on handicapping him of his best attributes.
KEVIN IOLE: Right, and you did a great job of that last time. But tell me this, you were very super cool. I mean, I thought you handled yourself great in the lead up to the fight. But one of the things you said that I wonder if you were telling the truth. When your dad wasn't there and it was questionable whether you're good.
And you were saying, not that big a deal. I can deal with it without my dad. Now that time has passed and we know dad's there and everything, no problem. Was it really-- would it had been really no big deal if he wasn't able to make it and you had a fight without him there?
DEVIN HANEY: I mean, I wouldn't have [INAUDIBLE] if I felt like I couldn't compete without my dad being there. So of course, I mean, I would have loved for him to be there. I'm happy that he was able to make it. But at the end of the day, I was going to fight regardless, so--
KEVIN IOLE: Right. That must have been a moment to share in the ring, because everything he went through to get there and then you win the ultimate prize in your sport. And to be able to turn around and hug him and look him in the eye and share that with him, that-- what kind of moment was that like for you?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, it was a blessing. I was happy that we were able to accomplish that together, make history together. And I look forward to us defending it successfully and making history again.
KEVIN IOLE: One of the things I hate in boxing that's happened in your fight, you had to fight him twice in order to be able to get the fight. You wouldn't have gotten the fight otherwise. And I really don't like that. And I think that takes away from getting the best fighting the best.
Well, what is-- I know you had to do a contraction, and I give you a lot of credit for agreeing to go to Australia, agreeing to fight him twice. But do you-- do you agree with me? Do you feel like that's a bad thing for boxing when these mandated rematches happen? Because I don't see a lot of interest in the fight frankly, given how you dominated the first one.
DEVIN HANEY: I don't know. I can't really say because it's something that I signed up for, myself. Who knows, maybe I may-- you know, I have rematch clauses in some of my fights. Well, all my fights, pretty much, up to this point. So I can't say I knock it completely.
But at the end of the day, it's what I signed up for. And I'm just honoring what I signed up for.
KEVIN IOLE: You fought some really good fighters along the way. You know, Linares, whatnot. Do you feel like your performance against Kambosos was the best of your career, given how comprehensive the victory was? Or do you think because he wasn't maybe as good, physically, as a Linares or some other guys fought, that it-- that was-- it wasn't the best performance?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, I think it was the best performance, just with so much that I was up against and fighting in front of 40,000 Australians. And the way I was able to pitch a shutout and take the crowd out of the fight, I think it had to be my best performance.
KEVIN IOLE: Now what do you anticipate him changing? I mean, obviously, he's got to adjust to you because you dominated the fight. Your speed was a big factor in that fight. What do you anticipate him trying to do to negate your advantages and speed and boxing ability like you showed the last time?
DEVIN HANEY: I mean, it's no secret. We all know that he's going to try to be more aggressive. We all-- like, that's just the obvious. Try to make the fight dirty, get aggressive, and yeah, be-- be-- we all know that he's pretty desperate.
He said that if he didn't win, he was going to retire. So he's going to go in there with a desperate attitude.
KEVIN IOLE: I-- do you look at the fight-- I mean, I know you're a young guy and you're not thinking of the past and everything, but I think of that Floyd Mayweather-Corrales fight back many years ago, right? And Floyd dropped Corrales five times, even though people were saying, hey, this guy is too big for him and he may hurt Floyd, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you get an aggressive George Kambosos really charging in at you, given how quick you are and how sharp you punch, do you feel like you can stop him under those circumstances?
DEVIN HANEY: We just got to see. We don't know what he's going to bring to the table. I can't think for him. But we're prepared for it, for anything that he does bring to the table. We're going to let it play out how it's supposed to.
We're not going to anticipate or try to overdo-- overdo something, at the end of day. We're prepared for it all. And whatever he brings to the table, I will be ready for it.
KEVIN IOLE: I know the lightweight division, to me, is a phenomenal division. Got another really good fighter coming into the division. I'm wondering if you saw Shakur Stevenson's fight against Conceicao, and what you made of his performance in that fight?
DEVIN HANEY: I thought he-- I did watch it. I thought he put on a good performance. I think that if he would have just put his punches together a little bit more, he could have got him out of there. But overall, a decent performance.
KEVIN IOLE: I'm curious, you know, I think he's one of those great young fighters in the world like you are. But he's full of confidence. And I want to read you a quote that he said to me and just get your reaction to it. He said-- I said to him, hey, you're going up to lightweight and the division is full of killers and a lot of great fighters.
And he said, it's a division everybody thinks is going to be super hard for me and it's going to get a lot harder and this and that. But honestly, I feel like I'm on a different level and whatever weight class I'm in is going to be dominated by me. If I-- I'll get more credit for beating those guys, but honestly, I feel like it's overrated.
When you hear something like that, do you think that that's just boxers trying to boost themselves up, or like, what do you make of fighters saying something like that?
DEVIN HANEY: I mean, yeah, he's a fighter. That's we're supposed to say. You know, he's supposed to have confidence and you know, feel that way. Any fighter should feel like that.
KEVIN IOLE: Is that a guy that you would look to fight? I mean, it should be an easy fight. If you're still with Top Ranked on the road, right? You've got both guys with Top Rank, that you would think, in the same division, that should be a fight you could make. Is that something you would welcome fairly soon?
DEVIN HANEY: Of course. You know, I'm welcoming all comers. You know, I'm not ducking or dodging nobody. But right now, my main focus is George Kambosos.
KEVIN IOLE: Right.
DEVIN HANEY: Once we get past him, then we can-- then we can talk about what's next.
KEVIN IOLE: Do you make the weight easily, Devin? And you know, I know a lot-- I was having a discussion with Todd Duboef, your promoter at Top Rank about you. And he was talking about you were a really big lightweight. And so I wonder, do you make the weight easily, or do you feel like you have a short time limit in this division because of that?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, I don't make it the easiest, but I definitely have made it easier and made some adjustments to make the weight easier. So yeah, but it's definitely not an easy division for me to make.
KEVIN IOLE: Do you feel like you'll be able to-- a lot of these-- you know, we see Ryan Garcia is already talking about being at 140 and whatever. Some of the fights-- Teofimo Lopez has gone to 140. Do you think we'll see some-- see you again some of those guys at 135, or do you feel like, eventually, your future is at 140 with them?
DEVIN HANEY: I don't know. I don't know. I think a lot of-- I think eventually, we'll all meet at 140, because we just all been at 135 for so long, since the amateurs. And that we're all growing and maturing our bodies are. So I think that we will meet at 140 eventually.
KEVIN IOLE: Now going back to the Kambosos fight, just one or two other questions and I'll let you roll. Kambosos against Teofimo Lopez, I give the guy credit, right? Teofimo Lopez was beating Lomachenko, was coming off of a nice roll. You know, had that nice win over Richard Commey, and he beats him.
Do you think that this guy is capable of significantly more than he showed against you last time? Do you think his performance against you is sort of like Lopez's performance against him, just kind of an anomaly? Or do you feel like what we saw with you and him last time was what he is?
DEVIN HANEY: I think George brings good attributes to the table. I think in the first fight, I just handicapped him out of his best attributes to where he was able to showcase what he-- his full potential. I think against someone else, he could shine.
But just somebody like me, I'm just too smart and too good. And every time-- it would just be a mismatch every time. It would look like a mismatch.
KEVIN IOLE: You-- you know, my take is that you're kind of a showman. And you like to perform for the crowd. When you saw that big group out there, did that get you excited? Like, 40,000 people booing you as you're walking in? Like--
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah.
KEVIN IOLE: Did that help you and kind of fire you up a little bit?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, it did. Actually woke me up. You know, I was a little nervous, and once I seen, like, the crowd and everything, it just got me hyped. And it just gave me that extra push.
KEVIN IOLE: Now you're not a bad guy, but you're playing the bad guy for the second time and fighting on somebody else's home soil. So what did you learn from the first time that will make it easier for you, dealing with all that-- you know, you're going to get all the Kambosos questions again over? Like, how do you use your experience from the last time to help you this time with that?
DEVIN HANEY: You know, I'm just-- I'm more prepared for it, just mentally. I know what to expect, so this fight-- I'm sure-- it's like it's all experience for me. So you know, I experienced it and now I know what to expect. And I'm gotten better mentally, physically. And on October 15, you guys will see.
KEVIN IOLE: So I just have to ask you about that. You're better physically than you were then?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, I do. I do genuinely feel like I am physically better. You know, it was--
KEVIN IOLE: In what areas? Where are you better, physically?
DEVIN HANEY: I've gotten stronger, faster, smarter. It was a quick turnaround for me. So I wasn't out of the gym long. And I just feel ready.
KEVIN IOLE: Do you still love the gym, right? And I know you've been a guy, historically, that didn't take long off in between fights. I mean, do you still love that or is it getting to be work now?
DEVIN HANEY: No. I love the game.
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--[INAUDIBLE] game. It doesn't feel like a job to me because I was doing it for free for so long, even as a pro. So it shows you how much I genuinely love it. And I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
KEVIN IOLE: And you're almost becoming a natural. I saw you on the DAZN with Ryan Garcia fight. You seem like you got a lot of airtime on that, did a pretty good job. Did you enjoy that? Is that something we could see you do down the road?
DEVIN HANEY: Yeah. Yeah, eventually, down the line, you guys will see a lot more of it from me. But right now, you know, I'm looking to keep defending these belts.
KEVIN IOLE: All right, brother. Well, wish you the best of luck. Devin Haney on October 15, Melbourne, Australia. You can watch him on ESPN. He will defend the undisputed championship against George Kambosos Jr.
Devin, best of luck to you, my man. Thank you so much.
DEVIN HANEY: Thank you for waiting for me.
KEVIN IOLE: You've got it brother.