Jeff Fenech considers George Kambosos Jr.’s annoying victory over Teofimo Lopez to be perhaps the greatest of any Australian boxer, but has warned that his legacy will be defined by what comes next.
Despite winning the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles last November, Kambosos Jr. still can’t be considered one of Australia’s top 10 wrestlers, according to Australian boxing legend Fenech .
As Kambosos prepares for his appointment with fate in his long-awaited unification bout against CMB lightweight champion Devin Haney at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, Fenech used the example of Buster Douglas, who achieved a famous victory over Mike Tyson in 1990, as a warning. count.
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“No disrespect to George, but he just won the title,” Fenech said foxsports.com.au.
“This is a fight. What did Buster Douglas do after that? Who knows Buster Douglas? He is remembered for winning a fight. George doesn’t want to be remembered for winning a fight. We don’t put the cart before the horse and let him win some fights before he starts saying he is as good as anyone.
“He has won a fight against a guy (Lopez) who totally underestimated him, who was totally, when you look at him, unprepared.
“But this is not a problem for George, all you can do is beat the one in front of you and George has done it. So it was an amazing and amazing performance.
“The journey he has made has been one of the hardest. I take my hat off to him, I bow completely to the boy, I love what he has done, but we still don’t get carried away.”
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Fenech, a former champion of CMB featherweight, CMB super bantamweight and IBF bantamweight, was typically colorful in giving his perspective on one of the biggest boxing disorders.
“When Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson, I know Mike Tyson, I’m his friend, I trained him, he was (with) five girls a day,” Fenech said.
“I was in America when Teofimo López was there. Well, apparently, as you now know, because of George, George was telling us that Devin Haney was talking about all the problems Teofimo had, so he had problems.
Fenech, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002, warned Kambosos of overconfidence and said that efforts should be made to earn the respect of the boxing world.
“Remember this: Jeff Fenech defended his bantamweight title three times and I never lost it, I went to the super bantamweight and I defended it three times and I never lost it, I went up to the featherweight and defended it three times. times and I never lost him, then I really won a fourth world title against one of the greatest fighters in history (Azumah Nelson), “Fenech said of his controversial game for the CMB super featherweight title in Las Vegas in 1991. .
“He (Kambosos) can like me, hate me, say he is better than me. They can have all my belts … do you know why I don’t need them? Because when I get off the plane, if I see Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis, they all honor me, they all know I can fight, that’s when you know you’ve got it, “Fenech said.
“You don’t get it in a fight, it’s longevity. I bless the boy (Kambosos) because he deserves it, so let him keep winning and get his praise as he wins and maybe in two years, I will say that he is the best Australian fighter, but I definitely don’t say that today, I don’t say that he is in the top 10, because he is not.
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“When you know you have achieved it, it is when you are admired by your peers or your peers give you credit, it is when you have achieved it.
“Sometimes when you enjoy it too much, you can get carried away. Suddenly, here we go, he said he’s unbeatable, he’s a Spartan warrior and then he bites you in the ass again.”
Fenech said he spoke from experience.
“I know why Mike Tyson lost, I know why Azumah Nelson beat me, because I thought he was unbeatable,” Fenech said.
As for Sunday’s fight, Fenech predicted who would win who controlled the first two rounds.
“If George can take the authority of the fight soon and make Devin fight, George can definitely win the fight,” Fenech said.
“But if he doesn’t, when I look at Devin Haney, he reminds me of a young ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard. He has great skills and they only show up once in a long time.”