It's being reported three-belt lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. will be meeting WBC titlist Devin Haney to determine an undisputed 135-pound champion. The bout is probable to take on June 4 in Australia on ESPN.
Haney's previous six fights aired on DAZN, including his interim WBC lightweight title win over Zaur Abdullaev in September 2019. Subsequently, Haney was named the full WBC champion and made four successful title defenses. Haney's promoter of those fights, Eddie Hearn, appeared on Monday's edition of The DAZN Boxing Show to discuss the situation. An apparent sticking point with Kambosos' promoter Lou DiBella was if Haney beats the Australian, Hearn felt the rematch should occur in the United States since that's where Haney resides. DiBella was insistent that the rematch had to be in Australia if that situation did happen.
Hearn feels Haney will win and then return to the global streaming platform with all the gold.
"We've been talking over the last weekend nonstop about this situation," Hearn said. "His plan is to go and get those belts, then come back (to DAZN), and hopefully, we'll be linking up again. This is obviously the only fight out there for him. There's no other fight out there. I don't know the full basis of the deal. The deal that we had planned was the rematch clause would take place in America. I saw that the rematch clause would take place in Australia, which is something that we didn't or wouldn't agree to anyway on behalf of Devin. In our deal structure, the rematch was in America. I felt that would only be fair. He’ll have these two fights in Australia. If he wins the first one, which I believe he will, and then no doubt we'll talk after that."
While disappointed not to be promoting the biggest fight of Haney's career, Hearn knows it was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up and ultimately wants him to become the four-belt champion.
"I want Devin to become undisputed," Hearn said. "Loyalty is great, and Devin's a very loyal kid. We had conversations about this, but at the end of the day, you can't miss an opportunity like this. What he hasn't done is signed a three, five-year deal with anyone else. This almost feels like a bit of a Canelo Alvarez play. This is what I have to do at this time to become undisputed. He's got a long career ahead of him, and I'm sure we will be working a lot together, but there's no other fights out there in the division for Devin Haney other than this fight. It’s a shame both of those would have to take place in Australia if that's the case, but he's got to do what he's got to do."