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Former world champ Kambosos Jr makes huge calls on Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and "hated" rival Teofimo Lopez
George Kambosos Jr has backed revitalised Ryan Garcia to beat Rolando Romero within “three to four rounds” when they clash in New York on Friday night in their headliner on DAZN PPV.
Garcia and US compatriot Romero meet in the biggest fight of their careers in Times Square to top a huge bill which includes fellow welterweights Devin Haney and Jose Ramirez facing off and Teofimo Lopez taking on Arnold Barboza Jr for the WBO light-welterweight world title.
Australian Kambosos Jr, 31, feels that Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will prove too physically strong and fast for the former WBA light welterweight champion Romero (16-2, 13 KOs).
Garcia has just served a one-year doping ban after testing positive for banned substance ostarine following his victory over Haney, which was overturned into a no-contest.
And in an exclusive interview with DAZN, Kambosos Jr said: “Garcia looks very focused and has changed his ways – you can see that.
“He looks good, he looks sharp, and I’m not going to talk too much rubbish because we’ve had our back and forths as well.
“But I’m confident that he’ll get a job done within three to four rounds against Rolly – maybe even earlier.”
Garcia has spoken in the build-up to his clash with Romero – his former sparring partner – of how he has changed his errant ways.
Kambosos Jr added: “I feel like he’s toned down on a lot of things. He was probably doing a lot of bad things with obviously the rumours.
“So yeah, it’s better that he’s got his life on track and is doing the right things.
“But then again, who knows? Sometimes you need the craziness.
“Sometimes you need that mindset of being crazy and doing all the reckless stuff to come into the ring and be reckless and actually destroy someone in front of you.
“It might play the other way, but it’s good that he’s got his life back on track.”Kelly Defina/Getty Images
Haney and Ramirez also promises to be an intriguing clash and Kambosos Jr lost to the former twice in 2022. “I think Devin’s got a lot to prove,” claimed the Sydney-born fighter.
“I know Devin very, very well from the two fights we had. Yeah, there’ pressure there, but he looks good; he looks physically very, very strong.
“I think after he gets through the first couple of rounds, he gets that Devin Haney mojo back, he’ll win this fight – unanimous decision.
“And that’s no disrespect to Jose – I like Jose – but I think a lot is on the line.
“When you put both guys [together] to see how much is on the line, Devin really needs this fight and I think he’ll come up for it.”
Garcia and Haney have a storied rivalry following their fight last April – and the pair traded insults during an explosive press conference earlier this week. Haney has not fought since facing Garcia last April and Kambosos Jr believes that experience may have left some mental scars.
“Mentally it will be very tough, with everything that happened,” he said.
“A lot of us fighters are confidence fighters and you need that confidence and mojo back.
“Once he gets through the first, second and third round, and he's looking good and feeling sharp, then he'll be able to really do his thing.
“But again, Jose is no easy fight at all, so stepping straight into a guy like that takes big balls and a lot of credit there. I think Devin gets a lot of lot of unwanted hate but he’s a hell of a fighter.
“I've been in there with the best and, I'll tell you, Devin is a tremendous fighter. I’m sure he will shine this week.”
Kambosos Jr, meanwhile, has won only one of his five fights definitively since he upset Lopez by split decision in November 2021. He is set for his next fight against Richardson Hitchins at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 14.
Kambosos Jr has developed a rivalry with Lopez, who has been busy preparing for his 12-round fight against Barboza Jr on Friday night in Times Square.
Kambosos jr admitted: “There’s a lot of hate there between me and Teofimo – he’s always talking and carrying on. But I think it’s a really good fight [between Lopez and Barbazo Jr].
“Barbazo is an underdog – he’s got a lot to prove and has that chip on his shoulder.
“It’s going to be a really close, fifty-fifty fight but I think I’m going to lean towards Arnold.”
Watch two incredible fight nights this week only on DAZN
DAZNFight fans are in for a treat this week, with two amazing fight exclusively DAZN PPV .
- May 2: Ryan Garcia vs Rolly Romero; Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez; Teofimo Lopez vs Arnold Barboza Jr.
- May 3: Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull
Fight fans can purchase either these fight nights individually for $59.99 US; £/€21.99 UK/IRE; $24.99 ROW per PPV or take advantage of the DAZN Knockout Weekend Bundle where both fight cards can be purchased for $90 US; £34.99 UK and €34.99 Europe.
