George Kambosos Jr’s plan to disrupt Devin Haney failed, as the American put on a masterclass to set his reign as undoubted king of the lightweight division.

The Greek Australian put up a brave fight and was still standing by the end of 12 bloody rounds, but Haney outshone him, taking a unanimous decision win (119-109, 118-110, 118-110).

Kambosos Jr. opened the first round with real aggression, although he was also switching up his stance in an early tactic something boxing legend Jeff Fenech labelled “strange”.

Kambosos Jr. ended the round by backing Haney up to the ropes, a stark difference to the opening fight between the two.

“A great finish to the round by George Kambosos,” Fenech said.

Haney though responded in the second round by landing a big right hand that had Fenech predicting that a knockout would end the fight, irrespective of who emerged victorious.

Kambosos Jr. sustained aggression all through the third round, as he pressed forward and switched stances to try put Haney off but the American kept coming back with a dangerous right hand.

The American adjusted to Kambosos Jr.’s switching between southpaw and orthodox, leaving the Greek-Australian to seek another edge to flip the script once more.

Heading into the sixth round Haney looked comfortable and got up in the scorecards as Kambosos Jr. struggled to work on the inside.

The challenger continued to dig deep against one of the best in the world, yet Kambosos Jr. failed to answer Hayne’s right hand.

With Haney in total control, Kambosos Jr. had one of his better moments of the fight in the eighth round when he landed a right hand to the body, bringing the crowd at Rod Laver Arena to life.

“I don’t think he won the round, but it would have given him a lot of confidence,” former boxing champ, Jeff Fenech said to Fox Sports.

Kambosos Jr. landed a huge right hand again in the ninth round to bring the crowd to its feet again, but Haney answered back with a right hand of his own and another soon after.

It turned into a bloody battle and Fenech urged Kambosos Jr. to take a risk, with the scorecards already getting away from the Australian but he had taken quite a beating and the shots kept coming in the 10th round.

Haney looked on the verge of dropping the 29-year-old, with Fox Sport’ boxing journalist Ben Damon declaring: “He is rocked, Kambosos is wobbled”.

“It’s been brave from Kambosos but the class has told and now the brutality begins,” Damon added.

“This is as brave as I have ever seen in the ring… he’s a warrior,” Fenech said.

“How is he standing up?”

Kambosos Jr. would remain standing until the final bell went in what Fenech described as an “unbelievable” display of bravery against the relentless Haney.

The victorious American now looks set for a mega fight with two-time Olympic champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.

George Kambosos was full of praise for Devin Haney.

“He’s a great fighter,” Kambosos said to Fox Sports.

“For me, to have the guts to go again with him – he gave me a good boxing lesson the first time and I came here, I gave it my all, I had a great preparation.

“He’s slick man, he’s a good boxer.

“It is what it is, I tried my best, I give my heart to this sport.”

Kambosos had suggested that he would retire if he lost again, but that never seemed like a real option – and he poured cold water on it after this fight.

“I need a good rest. Three big fights within a year,” he said.

“It’s not the end, I’ll be back.”

It would be very severe to pull the pin after losing twice to Haney, now the most-dominant man in any division.

“This guy’s top five pound-for-pound fighter,” he said.

“I gave him a great fight, a great challenge over 24 rounds.

“I had a great win last year; I was on top of the world and I tried to chase the best. He’s one of the best in the world of boxing, not just the division.”

Devin Haney was very publicly bemused at not being ranked in The Ring magazine when it published its pound-for-pound rankings in August.

“I should definitely be in the pound-for-pound rankings,” he said.

“In the first fight they said all I had was my jab – today I came in and I showed them my right hand, I showed how versatile I am.

I came to Australia not once but twice; I honoured it and beat the man in his hometown twice.”

Next up, you would think, is a dream fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko.

“We’re taking on all comers, no matter who it is. We want to fight the best fighters in the world, I believe I’m the best fighter in the world. Whoever it is next, bring them on.”