REVEALED: Scales at Kambosos weigh-in were ‘moved and recalibrated’ before Aussie’s shock failure to make limit – as it’s claimed Haney camp’s wild antics on stage contributed to drama that could have ruined title fight
Fallout from Saturday’s dramatic weigh in ahead of George Kambosos Jr vs Devin Haney continued amid claims that the scales were ‘moved and recalibrated’ moments before the Aussie hero missed weight.
Tensions boiled over in Melbourne after the unified lightweight champion hit the scales 0.36 pounds over the 135-pound weight limit on Saturday, putting the Sydney fighter at risk of forfeiting all of his belts.
Wild scenes ensued as both fighters traded words on stage, while Kambosos Jr’s father, Jim, became embroiled in a back-and-forth with members of the American’s entourage.
The scales used for George Kambosos Jr’s weigh in were reportedly moved and recalibrated
Kambosos Jr eventually made weight and claimed he had intentionally came in over the limit to ‘deceive’ his rival, but Fox Sports reports that the moving of the scales before the weigh in for main event left Jim Kambosos raging.
An ‘animated’ discussion between the Australian’s father, John Hornewer (Haney’s lawyer) and others lasted approximately 15 minutes as the trainer sought answers as to why the scales had been moved and recalibrated before his son stepepd up.
‘It was pretty much everybody involved in the process from promoters to the governing authorities to managers, Jim, Peter Kahn (Kambosos Jr.’s manager) from the Kambosos camp and the Haney side of things,’ a source said.
The Australian champion missed weight on his first attempt ahead of Sunday’s big fight
Fox Sports claims the scales were moved and recalibrated before he stepped up on Saturday
‘Everybody there was in an animated discussion, no question it was animated. Jim was getting pretty tense and a bit frustrated.
‘As we found out, the scales were moved from their position on the stage once the rest of the undercard had weighed in, they were moved somewhere on the floor off-stage to the entrance where the fighters would walk down and take the stage. They were moved down there.
‘The scales were calibrated on stage for the event again and having moved them, they would need further recalibration once they were moved back on stage. He (Jim) was pretty upset that had taken place.’
No explanation has yet been provided as to why the scales were moved and recalibrated and both teams emerged for Kambosos Jr’s second attempt with a set of 2kg dumbbells to test the accuracy of the scales.
Movements from members of Haney’s entourage allegedly caused the scales to shake slightly
However, there is no guarantee that the dumbbells weigh the exact 2kg as advertised, as they could have weighed slightly more or less than the precise amount.
It has also been reported that Jim Kambosos grew frustrated with the large amount of people on stage for the weigh in, when it was agreed that both camps would try to limit the number of people around the fighters.
As a result, movements from Haney’s entourage allegedly caused the scales to slightly shake and could have played a factor in the Australian missing weight the first time around.
The lightweight rivals fight for all the belts at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon local time
Emotions were high during the ordeal and Haney’s camp took delight in Kambosos Jr’s first attempt, yelling: ‘Better get on the treadmill’.
On the second attempt, the 28-year-old came in at 134.49 pounds.
‘Art of war, baby, deception, let them believe that this was done … maybe I did this on purpose,’ he told the cheering crowd after taking to the scales again.
‘It changes nothing, it changes his (Haney’s) mindset now.’
Asked how he got rid of the 160 grams, he laughed and said, ‘I took a p**s, it was easy, I chilled out, I was about to have a free coffee.’
Source: Daily Mail Online