A touching moment between George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney’s father at the post-fight press conference proved the huge respect the fighters have for each other.
Whilst Haney and Kambosos Jr engaged in a heated press conference before the fight, the feelings were anything but feisty after the battle.
Haney showed his class inside the ring once again after defeating the Australian by unanimous decision at Rod Laver Arena.
The fight went the distance, underlying Kambosos Jr’s gutsy effort, but it wasn’t enough to take home the win.
However, it was clear that the Aussie had earned Haney and his team’s respect as his father Bill Haney approached George and his father Jim following the fight.
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Bill Haney told Jim and George: “I came to get a picture with you, baby.”
Haney appeared to be extremely gracious in victory as he revealed he and his son had ‘never studied’ an opponent as much as the 29-year-old.
Bill then joked to George about following the fighter on Instagram and studying as many clips as possible.
Haney continued: “You got so much fight in you.
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“You know I was following you on Instagram. We watched everything that you did.
“We’ve never studied a fighter as much as we’ve studied you guys. We’ve got the utmost respect for you guys.”
The Kambosos Jr son-father duo replicated that respect back to Haney.
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Jim also maintained that any pre-fight shenanigans were all forgotten, and had simply been about the emotion of craving the win.
Jim said: “At the end of the day, everything that leads up to a fight, it’s about the emotion and wanting to win.
“You’ve got a very talented young boy. He’s going to be one of the greatest. Thing is, he’s got George’s number. We don’t have Devin’s.”
Jim and George also applauded Haney for honouring the rematch clause and returning to Australia for the second fight.
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Jim added: “Full respect to my man, at the end of the day mate, I’m just so glad that not only did you take the first fight, you came back to Australia and basically gave that fight the respect it needed to come back for a rematch.”
The trio then made their way down the hallways of the backstage area to take a picture together.
Admirable scenes from both teams.
Jayden Collins