Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney is contractually obligated to give George Kambosos Jr. a rematch even after dominating the Greek-Australian in his hometown in a unanimous decision in June. 

Even though it’s a rematch no one is banging the table for, Haney is promising another pounding once they meet again in the land down under on Oct, 16 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

“He’s in denial about his defeat. He’s got people around him that won’t say he got completely outclassed, [and that I] was the better man and beat [him] from pillar to post,” Haney told AKHi TV. “I don’t care if he acknowledges it. I walked out with the belt in his home country. If we do it again, it’s going to be worse.” 

Haney outlanded Kambosos 147 to 100 and ran away with scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110.

Now that Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) has co-promotional ties to Top Rank, a more mouth-watering matchup would be the Las Vegas star taking on two-time Ukrainian Olympics gold medalist and former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. 

“There’s no connection that I know of, but as I say, I want to fight whoever. It doesn’t matter. I’ll fight [Lomachenko] in October,” said Haney. “I got nothing but respect for Loma, his country, and what he did for his country, his family. If we meet in the ring, we meet in the ring. If we don’t, we don’t. I want to fight the best fighters. These guys should be calling for me now because I’m the guy with all the hardware.

“I’m still the hunter, which I have no problem with. I’ve been doing that my whole career now. I’ve been hunting, and I have no problem continuing to hunt, knowing that I have everything.” 

Top Rank boss Bob Arum has stated that if Haney beats Kambosos once again and Lomachenko passes a tune-up test later this year, the plan will be to stage a fight between the two stars. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.