George Kambosos Jr: Devin Haney's father being denied a visa is not my problem

Originally opting to bring Vasiliy Lomachenko to his homeland of Australia, the result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine left the 28-year-old turning to Devin Haney for an undisputed lightweight clash.

Yet with just over a week left until an opportunity of a lifetime for both men, Haney suffered a huge blow in his team with his father and head trainer - Bill Haney - being denied a visa due to a drug conviction 30 years ago.

Despite the rivalry and words shared between the two lightweight champions in recent times, the self-proclaimed 'Emperor' has been working to try and bring in Bill Haney in order to eliminate the excuses from the Haney camp.

"Unfortunately that's the situation, that's not my fault. I'm not the prime minister of Australia. I've actually reached out to a few high-profile people who have connections in the government to try and help the situation.

"I know there will be a whole lot of excuses once I destroy Devin Haney, about the father about the trainer, about the jet lag, about everything.

"I've been trying my best to see if he can get in but unfortunately, that's not my problem. I've got all of my team here and I'm ready to fight."

As it stands, Devin Haney will be heading into the biggest fight of his career without his father by his side.

The American's second head coach Ben Davison is also unable to make the trip down under, meaning Yoel Judah will be the man to head the corner for 'The Dream'.

Judah will look to turn bad memories of fighting Australians into successful ones as his son - Zab Judah - lost his IBF super lightweight belt to Kostya Tszyu back in 2001.

"I'm blessed to have my father with me in my corner, as he was for the Lopez fight." Kambosos continued. "At the end of the day, everyone is parading Devin for making the trip to Australia, but they forget that I've been doing it for five years.

"I've had to go without my father when I'm going over there. Obviously, my father has been a massive part of my career, but I'm a man and I'm always ready to fight by any means, to fight by myself.

"I'm doing him a favour, giving him a shot at making millions of dollars. And then I'm trying to sort out his situation but, at the end of the day, it's not my problem.

"It's history again, like when Kostya knocked out Zab Judah and took a lot of their belts. This is the same thing, history repeats itself. I can't wait to dismantle this kid."