Kambosos about to be smash box office hit
GEORGE Kambosos is on track to celebrate the richest fight in Australian boxing history.
His unification blockbuster against Devin Haney is set to deliver a box-office bonanza worth more than $9m.
Haney touched down in Australia on Thursday morning to news that almost 40,000 tickets had already been sold for Kambosos’s maiden world-title defence at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on June 5.
From the moment Marvel was announced as the scene of Kambosos’s first Australian fight in five years, “Ferocious” pledged to have the 56,000capacity venue packed.
Now, Kambosos’s glorious big-fight promise could become a record-breaking, money-spinning reality.
Seventeen days out from the lightweight multi-belt bout, the Kambosos-Haney showdown is threatening to usurp the Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao spectacular at Suncorp Stadium in 2017 as the highest grossing event in Australian boxing history.
The “Battle of Brisbane” turned over $8.5m when 51,052 fans flooded Suncorp Stadium to watch Horn clinch a maiden world title with an epic boilover of Pacquiao that won the hearts of Australian sports fans.
Early forecasts indicate the Kambosos-Haney mega fight will generate at least $7m. A Marvel sellout could mean Kambosos stars in the greatest event Australian boxing has witnessed, just as he predicted after his stunning upset of Teofimo Lopez last November.
“The promotional side of things has been huge,” Kambosos said. “A lot of money has gone into promoting this fight and the interest has already been massive.
“A few weeks ago, the sales have been huge and the payper-view numbers are going to be massive as well.
“We’ve had major interest from Kayo, Main Event and Foxtel ... the fight is moving to a sellout.”
It is understood Kambosos could pocket $10m when pay-per-view sales are included. It’s a long way from the paltry $800 he earned in his professional debut against Jayson MacGura at the Croatian Club in Sydney nine years ago.
In his most recent bout in America, Kambosos (20-0, 10KO) prised the WBA, IBF and WBO belts from Lopez.
If he disposes of WBC champion Haney (27-0, 15KO), the 28-year-old Sydneysider will become just the eighth undisputed champion of the four-belt era after Jermell Charlo joined the elite club last week with his stoppage of Brian Castano.
There is a view Kambosos got lucky against a complacent Lopez, but he is determined not to be a one-hit wonder against Haney.
“The scary thing for Haney is I have gotten better,” he said. “I have more speed, more power, more conditioning, better footwork ... I have gone to a new level.
“I am feeling amazing. The hands are extremely fast. I am seeing the shots perfectly in training. I am sparring so well and my body is in prime condition. I have gotten hungrier. I have gotten more obsessed.
“I always wondered when I became world champion, would I become content or complacent. But now I have the belts, I have realised I am hungrier. This shows my passion for the sport is pure.
“I went overseas to fight Lopez and came back with these beautiful belts. I am the top dog now and when I beat Haney, I will put the full stop on this and be the undisputed champion.”