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GARY RUSSELL JR. WANTS UNIFICATION OR MOVE UP IN WEIGHT FOR ANOTHER TITLE NEXT AFTER DEFEATING JOSEPH DIAZ JR.

By Minnie Larry | May 20, 2018
GARY RUSSELL JR. WANTS UNIFICATION OR MOVE UP IN WEIGHT FOR ANOTHER TITLE NEXT AFTER DEFEATING JOSEPH DIAZ JR.

WBC featherweight champion “Mister” Gary Russell Jr. (29-1, 17KOs) won by unanimous decision over Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz Jr. (26-1, 14KOs). In front of his hometown crowd, Russell showed why he is arguably the top featherweight in the world. Russell established his dominance early behind a swift jab. “The jab definitely dictated everything I did. My speed offset everything he tried to do coming forward,” he explained. Russell surprised Diaz with his aggression in the early rounds, but Diaz countered Russell’s aggression with shots to the body. Diaz’s body work, however, did not slow down the champion. Russell would adjust and continue to pepper Diaz with shots to the head. Swelling developed over Diaz’s left eye and redness was surfacing over his right eye. Russell’s speed made Diaz hesitant to throw punches even when Russell let his guard down. “When he threw combinations, I wasn’t able to set my shots. I was a little bit hesitant,” Diaz explained after the fight.

Diaz, who is known for coming on in the 2nd half of fights, was muted by Russell’s speed and footwork. Russell outworked Diaz throughout the fight. CompuBox had Russell landing 199 of 992 to Diaz landing 192 of 491 punches. When Diaz moved forward, Russell stepped to the right or left and grabbed him in order to stop the Diaz body shots. That prompted Diaz to abandon his jab and to head face first into Russell’s punches. Russell relied on his movement and jab to carry the fight. In the end, the scores were 117-111, 117-111, and 115-113, all in favor of the champion. 

So what's next? Russell wants to unify the titles by meeting the winner of Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares. “We want a unification. We want to unify this division, or we’re moving up in weight for another title,” he stated. However, Russell’s dream may be on hold as he revealed post-fight, “I hurt my right in the second or third round, so we had to make adjustments.” Russell has a history of hand injuries, which have resulted in him fighting sporadically. Hopefully, we get a chance to see him later this year in a unification bout.

Also on the card, middleweight Immanuel “The Chose One” Aleem (18-1-1, 11KOs) scored a sixth round knockout over Juan De Angel (20-8-1, 18KOs). De Angel stayed frustrated by the overwelhiming pressue put on him by Aleem, who was throwing punches from every angle. As a result, De Angel stayed on his stool rather than answer the seventh round bell.

Gary Antuanne Russell (6-0, 6KOs) came, saw, and conqured Wilmer Rodriguez (9-3, 7KOs) by 1st round knockout. Antuanne Russell landed a sharp right hand which dropped Diaz early in the 1st. Rodriguez would answer the 10 count, but it did not matter as Antuanne Russell landed a left-right combination which sent Rodriguez to la la land.  The time was 2:54. 

Cobia “The Soldier” Breedy (11-0 4KOs) cruised to a unianmious decision victory over Christopher Martin (30-10-3, 19KOs) in a featherweight affair. Breedy was the show, landing at will over a confused Martin. Martin could not find any answer for Breedy’s movement.  The scores were 60-54 on all three cards. 

Twenty-five-year-old Antonio “Another” Russell (11-0, 9KOs) remains undefeated after a technical knockout win against Mexico’s Johnathon Lecona (17-21-4, 6KOs). Lexona would go down in the 1st round only to return fire in the 3rd sliding straights in procession. By the 4th, Lecona could not sustain the bellow of uninterrupted punches crashing his nostrils. Sixteen seconds into the 5th, Lecona sat on the ropes in defeat.

Brandon “Bulldog” Quarles (19-4-1, 10KOs) won by TKO over Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (38-18-1, 30KOs). 

Rueben Simmons (3-0, 2KOs) won when his opponent Ayron Davis (0-2) could not answer the bell for the second round due to a cut.



[ Follow Minnie Larry on Twitter @MinnieLarry ]

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