Devin Haney’s plans for his world title fight against Australian George Cambosos have been thwarted, his father and coach Bill Haney’s visa application has been blocked by customs for traveling to Australia.
Haney, 23, will go into the biggest fight of his career without his father’s guidance, with Joel Juda – the father of retired former two-division and head coach and undisputed welterweight champion Jab Juda – having a strong chance to fill the void.
The title challenger arrived in Melbourne on Thursday morning before his June 5 undisputed lightweight championship clash with Lionel / WBA / IBF / WBO champ Cambosos Jr., forcing his father to stay in the United States.
Read more: Unbeaten boxer Musa Yamak fell to his death in the ring
Read more: Russia angry over gymnast’s approval of podium act
Read more: Eddie McGuire and Caroline Wilson lock the horns on the AFL’s $ 50 million issue
“I’m still at home in Vegas. I couldn’t get on the flight to the other side [to Australia]”They said my visa was not approved,” Bill Haney told Trill Boxing Talk It was not denied. At this point, I was not able to go through customs. “
The problem with customs arose from a 1992 serving time for a drug convict, Bill Haney. Haney’s other coach, Ben Davison, is also currently working on visa issues.
“I’ve always been at the forefront of where I came from, of Oakland where I’ve done something wrong. I don’t want Devin to do it. I’ve done something wrong at the age of 22, where Devin is now and I hope he won’t. We should never do that, “said Haney SNR.
“It’s not the way he wants to go. I have an offense on my record that goes back to 1992. A federal drug suffix that I served.”
“I was open and honest with our partners at the top. Lou Debella, along with Debella Entertainment (promoter of Cambosos) knew about it. We were hoping for support from the Australian government. I can go first. “
Haney will now fight a different team, but Haney SNR says he hopes the issue will be resolved in a timely manner for a fight or rematch, which is strongly in favor of the Australians.
“They weren’t willing to give up anything,” Haney added. “It’s a one-way rematch clause and they want it in Australia. There’s no Devin rematch in the deal. With that, I can’t go over, it changes the dynamics of what we agreed.
“But we are the people of our word. We have this fight right now. The most important thing is that this fight is in front of us right now, in front of us. Go through it with him and then talk to the government.”
“I hope to be released in the next few days or during the rematch.
“I’m just as optimistic about the fight as they were when it said it wasn’t happening. I’m just as optimistic about getting permission there. In fact, we have to be prepared not to be there.”
To get a daily dose of the best breaking news and exclusive content from the Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter Click here!
