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GARY RUSSELL SR. REFLECTS ON OLYMPIC JUDGING AND KAEPERNICK'S ANTHEM PROTEST: "I FEEL THE BROTHER"

By Percy Crawford | September 23, 2016
GARY RUSSELL SR. REFLECTS ON OLYMPIC JUDGING AND KAEPERNICK'S ANTHEM PROTEST:

"I don't think they will clean it up. I honestly feel as long as you have certain entities with the finances, the people do what they want. They've been doing it for years. You think about Roy Jones, Mr. Floyd Mayweather, and Evander Holyfield. This isn't an isolated incident that occurred. There were several fighters who were equally robbed. I feel bad for all of those guys that were robbed," stated world-class trainer Gary Russell Sr., who shared his thoughts on Olympic judging and talked about his son, Gary Antuanne, turning pro. Check it out!

PC: You've spoken about the Olympic disappointment before, right after the Games. Now that you've had time to reflect, what's your take away from how Gary Antuanne's fight turned out?

GRS: Of course I was upset. As the competition was moving on, he was getting more and more comfortable and settled in. I felt confident, not only myself, but he felt confident that he could win the whole thing. I knew there were a lot of politics concerning the sport. I didn't think it would play itself out in that manner. The guy went on to win Gold. Even when they were commentating his Gold Medal fight, they were saying that he actually lost to my son, Antuanne. I knew in my heart that Antuanne beat that kid. It wasn't even close.

PC: We have talked in the past about the amateur system and the judging and usually it's a fighter or two that gets a raw deal. In this particular Olympic Games, it was several fighters that got a raw deal. They eventually dismissed the judges. Do you think that's a step in the right direction to clean things up or do you think it's a situation that will get worse before it gets better?

GRS: I don't think they will clean it up. I honestly feel as long as you have certain entities with the finances, the people do what they want. They've been doing it for years. You think about Roy Jones, Mr. Floyd Mayweather, and Evander Holyfield. This isn't an isolated incident that occurred. There were several fighters who were equally robbed. I feel bad for all of those guys that were robbed, but through nepotism, it hits closer to home because it was my son. So that plays with me a little more. We're resilient as most melanin people are. We will keep our heads up and move forward. I use a metaphor, sometimes you can plan a parade or plan a party or a nice family outing and the weather won't accommodate it. It will start raining and along with the rain comes mud. You're already pissed because of the rain, but now you gotta deal with the mud. And that's what I told my son. The mud is going to come in life situations, but one thing I know for certain is cement is the foundation. So we're not going to waddle in mud; we're going to build a foundation to make it stronger to stand on, regardless of what the circumstances are.

PC: Have you guys discussed his future and are you comfortable enough from what you saw from him to move him into the pro ranks?

GRS: Actually, he's already gone and got what they call a Federal I.D. Your Federal I.D. is what you need to go pro. So we have already moved in that direction.

PC: You guys have the All Star Amateur Boxing series going. Tell us a little bit about that?

GRS: We're actually, we're pioneering it. It's a first. What the general idea was is for all the pro fighters, Gary Jr., Floyd has a team, Danny Garcia, and my main man Keith Thurman. That's my man, Keith Thurman. So what we plan on doing is starting our chapter of amateur boxing and we will assemble a training camp from kids all over. We are to critique those kids and make our selection and let them know that they were selected and that's becomes our team. Now what we want to do is have other entities involved. I mentioned it to Al Haymon and he said it was a wonderful idea. So I don't know if we're going to do an east coast vs. west coast box off and then the semifinals and then the finals and hopefully we can put it on TV and showcase amateur boxing.

PC: That is a great idea. We only see a lot of these athletes 4 times a year, when truth is most of them are fighting year round.

GRS: Right! Claressa [Shields] been doing her thing and I don't think she got her just due, even after winning Gold again. She didn't get that play. But I even reached out to a couple of people involved with USA Boxing, the PR person, to put out the information.

PC: You have 3 sons who are active boxers right now. If one of them wanted to sit or kneel or make a gesture while the National Anthem is being performed before their fight, how would you feel about that?

GRS: In my heart, I would tell them it's their decision. It would be up to them to do so. A lot of people speak on that patriotism piece. We send messages through our music and through our boxing attire. If you notice my son Antonio, if you watched his last fight, the attire he wears is Afrocentric. He wears an unk. The music he comes out on for all of his fights is the Black National Anthem. It's a modern addition called "Lift Every Voice" and Deniece Williams and Al Green does it. We try to stay rooted to our Afrocentric nature. So if they choose not to stand for the National Anthem, that's understood. Yet the drawback to that and when you do that, we're in de facto government and its going to be looked at negatively from the entities that pretty much control the media, sports and all. So a lot of people just compromise what they really feel inside as far as their patriotism for old glory. It's not a flag; it's a banner. It's not a flag.

PC: So you feel like Colin Kaepernick's message is being lost in the action?

GRS: You gotta understand, a lot of people understand exactly what he's saying, but they'll let their anger be manifested into his actions. They don't care what he's saying. People will always look to find negativity, especially the media. You're going to hear more about the negative situations that happen in society as opposed to talking about this positive black kid with the highest GPA in Maryland. They are not going to sensationalize anything like that because they associate the name under a certain stigma. So I feel the brother in what he's going through and what he's doing, and kuddos to him because guess what, he got his money, so he can come up out of the joint and still be financially based. You remember in the Olympics, years ago when the brother stood up there on the podium and they put black gloves on and put their fist up, it was met with so much criticism and negativity, but everything that they did and he's doing, he has the right under the Constitution to do it. When you decide to employ your constitutional right, you're ostracized and doors can be shut on you. It's all about trying to keep up the appearance. You got the guy, what's his name who is running for president, Donald Trump, talking about blacks this, Spanish that, and can't stand this, and he was being really bold and out front, and now he's trying to loosen the ropes. Now he's trying to do the Rodney King "Can't we all just get along." It's like you didn't really hear me say that I was going to build a wall and do this and that. You didn't really hear me say I didn't know enough about the KKK to speak on them. But now he's trying to get your vote, so all of that machismo is settled. It's getting to be crunch time, so now he's gotta pull out the other stops. I say that to say people know what he's about; now he has to try and present a certain image to throw you off. So there are images all around. I'll tell you something that I found and it answers the questions to me, I don't want to offend nobody, but I want to keep it 100 man.

PC: Say what you feel, man.

GRS: When we went over there to Brazil for the Olympics, I wasn't thrilled about going because I heard a whole bunch of negativity about what was going on out there with the violence and how dangerous it was. And then on the other hand, everyone speaks about how beautiful the Brazilian women are. They are the most beautiful women in the world in Brazil. I went over there to walk the beaches and I'm watching and what I came to find out is half of Brazilian women had European features. Listen to what I'm saying. They had European features, long straight hair, pointy nose, and what defines their beauty is all of them have voluptuous behinds. They have black women's bodies, but because of their features, they say they are beautiful. It's crazy, man. And they push it, but a lot of us are so unconscious, we allow ourselves to be pushed, so we deal with it. I feel for the brother, man. I like the fact that he's making a stance. He's financially sound enough to be able to make that stance as opposed to my sons, who are still trying to climb to get a certain financial security. They have to approach with caution.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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