Devin Haney Looking To Get Full Respect After George Kambosos Rematch
For undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (28-0, 15 KO’s) October 16 will have somewhat of a déjà vu feel to it. This is because he will travel back to Australia to fight “Ferocious” George Kambosos (20-1, 10 KO’s) once again on enemy ground.
Of course, it won’t be totally the same due his being the undisputed champion having already defeated Kambosos in convincing fashion on June 5. Despite being the heavy favorite to take care of business again, Haney has retained his underdog mindset as he revealed to ThaBoxingVoice.
“The mentality hasn’t changed, we still focused, I’m still going into his backyard like I am not the champion. It’s still the underdog, I was never really the underdog but still that mentality where I got to go in and still take what’s mine. It’s not fully mine yet because I got to go out there and show him that it was no point in this rematch.”
SHOULDER STILL CHIPPED UP!!
While he and his team certainly feel that he is by far the better athletic specimen, Haney has found the proper fire and determination needed by embracing this slighted position in the division.
“That’s what motivated me, that they were not giving me my respect as a champion. So I had to earn my respect. I am the guy with all the belts, the mentality doesn’t switch. I still got that email mentality, still something to prove and still got to show the world how good I really am and after this fight they will give me my respect. Even though they give me my respect they will give me my full respect.”
At the same time though, Haney is being careful not to fall into the trap of underestimating what Kambosos might bring to the table.
“I can’t overlook George Kambosos, he’s proved that a guy like Teo [Teofimo Lopez] overlooked him and he went in there and he beat him. So, I got to learn from that. And I feel like he kind of overlooked me with our fight and I beat him. I can’t go in there and focus on the next fight, I got to focus on him [Kambosos].”
By: Bakari Simpson
