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George Kambosos survives major weigh-in scare ahead of World Lightweight Championship fight

The two fighters weighed in on Saturday morning with Kambosos (left) failing to make the required weight. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)

George Kambosos has survived a major scare ahead of his undisputed lightweight title clash against Devin Haney, only making the weight limit at the second attempt.

Kambosos, the reigning WBA, WBO and IBF champion, had earlier stunned observers by coming in fractionally over the 135-pound lightweight limit.

The 28-year-old had stripped completely naked on stage at Margret Court Arena, but still came in at 135.36 pounds (61.39kg).

After a delay of over an hour, Kambosos, at the second attempt, weighed in at 134.49 pounds.

"The art of war baby," Kambosos said on stage at Margaret Court Arena to huge cheers from his assembled supporters.

When asked to explain how he missed the weight first time around, Kambosos said: "Deception. Let them believe."

So, how did Kambosos make the weight?

"I took a p***," he said.

The casual response from Kambosos belied the seriousness of the situation when, barely an hour ago, the Australian boxer sensationally failed to make the weight, putting his undisputed dreams on hold.

Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech described the situation as "a slip up" and "something an amateur would do" on the Main Event broadcast.

Fenech added that he was just one of two fighters not to arrive early to the arena to check their weight on the official scales.

Kambosos was given two hours to lose the 139 grams to make the fight official.

Failing to make the weight would have had dire consequences for Kambosos's dreams to become undisputed champion at lightweight.

Had Kambosos not lost the weight, he would have forfeited his right to fight for all four belts, meaning even if he won Sunday's highly anticipated event at Docklands, he would not claim Haney's WBC title.

However, if Haney had won, he would have taken all four major straps back to the United States.

For his part, the American champion Haney weighed in at 134.92 pounds (61.19kg), comfortably under the limit.

After Kambosos failed to make the weight, the two camps engaged in a fierce face off, accompanied by some shoving by the rival's camps.

"I'm a true champion, and true champions make weight," he said.

The two men will now rehydrate ahead of Sunday's main event.

You can follow all the action from Docklands in the ABC Sport live blog.

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