George Kambosos Jr.-Devin Haney live results and analysis

Devin Haney became the undisputed lightweight champion Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, with a unanimous-decision victory over George Kambosos on ESPN.

Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) used his excellent jab to dictate the pace en route to the win via scores of 116-112, 118-110 and 116-112. Now, the 23-year-old from Las Vegas owns all four 135-pound titles after the dominant performance against ESPN’s No. 1 lightweight.

Kambosos, a 28-year-old from Sydney, Australia, can choose to exercise his contractual right to an immediate rematch with Haney later this year in Australia.

Read the full recap here …

Official scorecards: 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.

Round 12: Close round as Kambosos makes one final push, but it’s a formality. Haney is too sharp, too great. He wins the fight and the final round. We will now see if the judges agree. 10-9, Haney. 118-110, Haney.

Round 11: Haney uses the jab to contend with the hard-charging Kambosos, who lands a few solid shots, but Haney makes him pay this time when he misses. 10-9, Haney. 108-101, Haney.

Round 10: George Kambosos continues to press forward in an attempt to land one big shot. In the final stages of the fight, he’s doing his best. 10-9, Kambosos. 98-92, Haney.

Round 9: Kambosos finally wins a round on this card. He presses harder and manages to get through with a few good shots. Haney’s right eye is now swelling. Haney lost in wins over Linares, Diaz. Can Kambosos rally? 10-9, Kambosos. 89-82, Haney.

Round 8: George Kambosos beginning to press harder. Although he’s being controlled, it seems that his will is strong as ever. He needs to land something big and quickly. 10-9, Haney. 80-72, Haney.

Round 7: Kambosos’ face really showing the effects of Haney’s attack now. Haney’s face is, however, clean. Haney is dominating. 10-9, Haney. 70-63, Haney.

Round 6: George Kambosos lands a sharp left hook but before he can follow up Devin Haney wisely ties him up. Kambosos left eye is now red and swollen. Haney is in control halfway through. 10-9, Haney. 60-54, Haney.

Round 5: Dare I say this is starting to resemble a vintage Floyd Mayweather performance? Round after round, Haney controlled the action with his superb jab and dictated pace. Kambosos has no answers so far. He can’t even get inside that jab. 10-9, Haney. 50-45, Haney.

Round 4: Devin Haney now starting to follow up the jab with the right hand. George Kambosos’ eyes are starting to swell. He must land something soon to win Haney’s respect, and alter the fight. 10-9, Haney. 40-36, Haney.

Round 3: Tactical fight thus far. Kambosos found Haney’s jab, overall defensive skills and overall strength to be too much for him through round three. Haney makes him miss, but does not make him pay. 10-9, Haney. 30-27, Haney.

Round 2: Haney continues to control the action with the jab. He’s changing the levels of his lead jab beautifully and it’s disrupting Kambosos rhythm. Although the unified champion was able to connect with a pair sharp left hands, it wasn’t enough. 10-9, Haney. 20-18, Haney.

Round 1: Devin Haney establishes his excellent jab early and often ties up George Kambosos Jr. who is looking for the looping right hand, the same punch that dropped Teofimo Lopez in the opening round in November. 10-9, Haney. The fight is next!

Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer is doing fighter introductions. First, Kambosos, then Haney.

Devin Haney already in the ring. George Kambosos Jr. makes his way, flanked by flags from Australia and Greece.

Results:

Moloney stops Palicte with brutal third-round TKO

Jason Moloney, after four fights stateside, returned to Australia with a statement.

The 31-year-old scored a third-round TKO of Aston Palicte in a bantamweight fight, the chief support bout to George Kambosos Jr. vs. Devin Haney.

Moloney (24-2, 19 KOs) floored Palicte with a short right hand before a barrage of shots led to referee Ignatius Missailidis stepping in as Palicte was falling down a second time. The time of the stoppage was 2: 35.

Jason Moloney, the twin brother of Andrew Moloney who was also scheduled to compete on this card is rated No. 7 by ESPN bantamweight. The victory was Moloney’s third straight since a seventh-round KO loss to unified champion Naoya Inoue in 2020.

Palicte (28-5-1, 23 KOs), a 31-year-old from the Philippines, lost for the third time in six fights.

Browne scores must-see first-round KO over Fa

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Lucas Browne stuns the announcers and the Australian crowd with this knockout in the first round of his fight against Junior Fa.

Lucas Browne, 43, delivered a stunning result with a first-round TKO of heavyweight fringe contender Junior Fa.

Browne (a native Australian fighter) sent Fa crashing to his mat with an overhand right on his ear. Fa was then knocked out with a single right hand to the head by Browne.

Browne (31-3, 27 KOs) had the biggest win of his career in 2016 when he scored a 10th-round TKO of a faded version of Ruslan Chagaev, but lost three fights inside the distance since then, including a first-round TKO last year to journeyman Paul Gallen.

Fa (19-2, 10 KOs), a 32-year-old from New Zealand, was competing for the first time since he dropped a decision to former heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker in February 2021.

Nickolas and Higgins fight to majority draw

Lachlan Higgins and Terry Nickolas battled to a majority draw in a six-round junior middleweight bout.

One judge scored the bout for Higgins, 58-56, but was overruled by twin tallies of 57-57.

Higgins (7-2, 2KOs) and Nickolas (2-1-1, 2KOs) engaged in a thrilling scrap between two Australian-level fighters, but could not produce a winner. This was the final preliminary matchup before main card.

Robertson wins flyweight debut

In a five-round women’s flyweight bout, Taylah Robertson improved to 5-1 (with 1 knockout) with a shutout unanimous decision over Sarah Higginson. All three judges scored the bout 50-45. It was Robertson’s first fight at 112 pounds.

Robertson, a 24-year-old Australian, will fight again in 10 days in her home country. Higginson lost to Higginson in her pro debut, falling to 3-1-1 and 1 KO.

Angeloni dominates Aitken in professional debut

Yoel Angeloni successfully made his pro debut with a unanimous-decision victory over Ken Aitken in a four-round welterweight bout.

The 18-year-old was forced to contend with a nasty gash over his left eye following a clash of heads. He was a member the Cuban National Youth Team, before he began his amateur career in Italy.

Angeloni, who is promoted by Lou DiBella, prevailed via 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36 scorecards. Atken (3-1, 1KO) was defeated for the first time in his career.

Junior lightweight Pom Thanawut Phetkum defeated Hussein Fayad by unanimous decision with scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36.