Devin Haney's travel controversy ahead of Aussie champ's showdown
Champion Devin Haney has touched down in Australia ahead of his much-anticipated unification bout with three-belt champ George Kambosos Jr. but the American had some controversy before arriving.
Melbourne's Marvel Stadium will host the biggest fight on Australian soil in modern boxing history with either Kambosos or Haney set to become the first man to hold all the belts in the four-belt era.
'HE KNOWS': New light shed on Paul Gallen's future in boxing
'ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL': Boxing world stunned by Nikita Tszyu K
Kambosos caused the boxing upset of the year in 2021 when he defeated Teofimo Lopez in Brooklyn to take home the WBO, WBA and IBF belts.
Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) owns the WBC lightweight title while Kambosos is the WBC's franchise champion.
And after months of fiery exchanges from across the world, Haney arrived in Australia ahead of the June 5 bout.
However, it didn't all go to plan for the confident American.
Reports suggest Haney's father and trainer, Bill, wasn't allowed to travel to Australia.
Bill was originally denied a visa because of a prior drug conviction in 1992.
While there was some concern the hurdle could prompt Haney to withdraw from the fight, the confident American arrived and had some strong words for the champ.
“He said I got cold feet but I’m here in Australia,” Haney said, according to Fox Sports.
“I said I would be, I stuck to everything I would do, and here we go.”
War-of-words continue between Haney and Kombosos
Following Haney's arrival, a member of camp let rip at Kombosos and warned him about how the fight would go.
“We are in Australia because we’re going to shock the world,” Haney's camp added.
“It’s going to be done six or seven, six or seven, six or seven George and you’re going to sleep in front of all your people, they’re going to watch you snore, they’re going to watch you snore George."
Bill Haney has revealed that Zab Judah's father Yoel Judah will now head Devin Haney's corner vs George Kambosos Jr: "This is only giving Devin more fuel. The last thing that he said to me is, 'Pops, if you can't come I'm beating the s*** out of him.'" [TRILL BOXING TALK]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 18, 2022
Reports suggested the original bout for the belt was meant to see Vasily Lomachenko travel to Australia, but the Ukrainian ruled it out and announced he would stay to fight for his nation.
Since then, Haney has stood up and conceded he would travel to Australia for the unification bout.
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.