By Adam Baskin: George Kambosos Jr is still upset about the amount of holding that Devin Haney did the last time they fought in June. Haney wasn’t penalized for his holding, and if had occurred, it might have changed the outcome more or less.

Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) used a certain amount of clinching to nullify Kambosos’ offense when he got inside on him. It worked perfectly for him to win a decisive 12 round unanimous decision.

Whether Haney went overboard with his clinching is up to the viewers. All we know is the referee that worked the fight last June felt that Haney wasn’t going overboard with his holding of Kambosos, so he allowed it.

On Saturday night, October 15th, Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs) will have the opportunity to even the score on his home turf at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The fight will be shown on ESPN & ESPN+ in the States.

Kambosos, 29, is expected to come into the fight with a totally different game plan from the first fight, and he could be more aggressive. Most would agree that Kambosos will need to apply constant pressure on Haney to have a chance of winning.

Kambosos zoned in

That’s where I’ll show myself under those bright lights, but for now, I’m zoned in for my job,” said Kambosos Jr to Fighthype about his rematch with Haney on Saturday.

“That’s how the fight went, tough for the fans, tough on myself. Not a fan-friendly fight,” said Kambosos about Haney supposedly clinching him 59 times in their first fight last June.

“We’re really excited about the breaking news that we have a great referee in place,” said Kambosos. “He loves to let the fight flow, and he lets the inside work,” said Kambosos.

The last time they fought, Haney controlled the action from the outside, using his jab to swell up Kambosos’ face.

When Kambosos would come inside to try and land, Haney would expertly tie him up to keep him from getting his punches off.

Big fights ahead for Haney

“We’re very grateful for what happened on June 4th. We know we have our work cut out for us,” said Bill Haney to Pro Boxing Fans. “We keep our nose down and keep grinding. We want to make the best fights happen. Those are the fights that the people want.

“Not just necessarily fighters that are calling him out that might be ranked 160 or something like that. We look to make the biggest fights happen, and we take that very seriously.

“That’s a great fight,” said Bill about Haney potentially fighting Vasily Lomachenko next. “Vasyl Lomachenko is a great fighter, but I just believe there’s something special about Devin, and when we get through with George Kambosos, we’ll see.

“You said his [Gervonta Davis] name, so that made you think about that fight. Is that the one that you think is a big fight? I’m very conscientious about the voice of the people, and yes, that’s one of the names that we hear,” said Bill about his interest in a fight between Haney and Gervonta Davis.

“We would oblige them that we handle our business with George Kambosos on October 16th.”