By Norm Frauenheim-
Melbourne and Los Angeles are separated by 18 time-zones and 7,932 miles. You can get on a plane in Melbourne and arrive in Los Angeles before you left Australia. It sounds upside-down, which is another way of saying Down Under.
But there was no confusion Thursday evening in Los Angeles and Friday morning in Melbourne. Only the clocks said different things.
George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney spoke a universal language in a formal news conference introducing their lightweight fight June 5 in Melbourne. The newser for a world-title bout was steamed, appropriately enough, worldwide.
No interpreters were necessary. Trash talk is understood everywhere
“He keeps saying he will leave this fight as a King,’’ Kambosos said from a stage in Melbourne to Haney and his trainer/father, Bill, who were seated in a LA studio. “But what’s a King to an Emperor?’’
Kambosos is one belt short of an empire. Haney has it, a World Boxing Council version, and Kambosos intends to take it at an arena called Marvel Stadium. It’s no place for a comic book hero. Kambosos looks to be the real thing after his wild upset of Teofimo Lopez on Nov. 27 in New York.
Lopez sounded delusional after the defeat. His delusion is still evident. Now, he’s alleging that the scorecard loss was somehow fixed. It makes you wonder if Lopez is somehow finished. That’s another story for another day and another weight class. Lopez is moving up the scale, from 135 pounds to 140. Maybe, he’ll gain the pounds and lose the delusions. We’ll see.
But it’s become evident that Kambosos, a former Manny Pacquiao sparring partner, is a keen practitioner of psychology, one of boxing’s timeless arts. To wit: He knows how to get into somebody’s head long before he ever lands a head-rocking shot.
In what was perhaps an opening salvo of rhetoric, Kambosos mocked Haney. The clever Aussie suggested that the likeable American was already losing his cool. He wasn’t, of course.
But it was the sound of what’s to come in this bout between a couple of unbeaten lightweights from different hemispheres. Kambosos is at home, and he intends to use every advantage in what is expected to be a huge Aussie crowd at the 53,000-seat stadium.
Haney laughed off the mocking. But he was also annoyed. Kambosos called the 23-year-old Haney a kid.
“He keeps calling me a kid,’’ Haney said. “I am not a kid. I am a man. So, quit calling me a kid.’’
However, it’s beginning to sound as though Kambosos is just getting started. For now, at least, Kambosos is the underdog. That’s a surprise, mostly because Kambosos is coming home after scoring a huge upset in Lopez’ hometown.
Haney, who steps in as Kambosos’ challenger when Vasiliy Lomachenko decided to stay at home in Ukraine to fight the Russians, opened as a minus-280 favorite, meaning he has about a 73-percent chance at winning.
Australia is known for gambling. From Sydney to Melbourne to Perth to Brisbane, you can bet on just about anything. It’s called “the national sickness. The guess here is that Kambosos will be favored at opening bell.
He’ll talk his way into the favorite’s role. Bet on it. But can talk his way into Haney’s head? That’s the real question. If he can, he’ll win.
