Jeff Fenech SLAMS George Kambosos and his corner for allowing Devin Haney to dominate title fight

After being completely outfought by Devin Haney, George Kambosos Junior told the crowd he will fight the new champion again and promised, ‘I’m going to change a few things and get him back at the end of the year.’

One of the big questions that will linger long after the swelling on the Australian’s face goes down is, why didn’t he change a few things during the fight?

Three-division world champ Jeff Fenech couldn’t figure that out in the aftermath of the loss and didn’t mince his words as he slammed Kambosos and his corner for their lack of aggression. 

The ‘Marrickville Mauler’ blamed the Australian’s corner for not getting him to switch up, become more aggressive and fight on the inside more – noting that as the rounds wore on, the fighter’s father Jim was the one voice telling him to urgently step up the physicality.

Photo that sums up the fight: Haney catches Kambosos with his lightning jab for the umpteenth time. The Aussie didn’t have an answer for the punch that dominated the bout

‘If that was me (in Kambosos’ corner) I would have been screaming my head off. If you’re going to win, you’ve got to throw punches, throw punches in bunches,’ Fenech said.

‘George took risks and got rewards against Teofimo Lopez. In this fight he didn’t.

‘They must have known that was Haney’s game, that’s how he wins fights. He hits and doesn’t get hit.

‘But with George, there was no urgency in the corner. I guarantee you, you tell George to do something with urgency, he’s that kind of warrior … they just told him to box along.

‘Round 10 and 11, they have to tell him, you’ve got to knock him out to win.’ 

Haney used his impeccable left hand to set up a variety of shots like this sweet right, then either clinched or got out of range when Kambosos tried to counter

Fenech (pictured during commentary on the fight) was shocked at the lack of urgency in Kambosos’ corner, especially when it was clear he needed a knockout to win

The Boxing Hall of Fame member stressed that Kambosos should’ve been taking risks and throwing combinations to get around Haney’s jab, which ‘everyone knew’ was the key to the fight.

As Fenech pointed out, Haney’s game plan was obvious as soon as the contract for the fight was signed: he’d use his lightning jab to run up the points on the judges’ scorecards and keep Kambosos from getting into range, and catch and hold him if he got too close for comfort.

Kambosos said as much straight after the loss: ‘He moved, he boxed, he didn’t really want to come to the fight too much, but that’s his game.’

And it was a game the 28-year-old and his corner looked unprepared for.

Prior to the fight, legendary Aussie trainer Johnny Lewis – who took Fenech and Kostya Tszyu to world titles – said Kambosos had to control the fight in the first two rounds if he wanted to win.

Instead, the Aussie was strangely quiet as he got peppered with that jab in the first, and got home with a couple of decent shots in the second – but nothing remotely damaging enough to rattle the American.

Aussie former world champ Barry Michael described it as a ‘chess match’ in commentary when Kambosos should’ve been turning it into a streetfight. 

‘The jab is the winning punch of the fight so far,’ he added. ‘I think George has to change the pattern of the fight.’ 

The Aussie did land shots but they were few and far between as his corner seemed to have no plan B when it became obvious he couldn’t win by counter-punching

Former two-time welterweight world champ Andre Berto pinpointed the problem when he tweeted, ‘Don’t understand why the hell Kambosos thought he could stay on the outside and box this man instead of trying to close the distance and let his hands go. He’s shorter in height, reach and doesn’t have the same boxing skill/IQ as Haney.’

The Aussie insisted he’d exercise the rematch clause in his contract, but the win was so clear-cut – and in the eyes of fans, lacking action – that many boxing aficionados said they weren’t sure they’d bother to watch it.  

Michael Montero, who writes for esteemed boxing magazine The Ring, tweeted, ‘Does Kambosos and his team really want the rematch? I mean, other than the payday, I can’t see him doing anything differently if/when they do it again later this year. Haney is just better.’