Photo by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
On Thursday, February 16, 2017, Gary Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs) joined Oscar Escandon (25-2, 17 KOs) to officially announce their March 11 bout at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD.
Russell Jr. was last in action back in April of 2016 when he dominated and stopped Patrick Hyland by TKO in Round 2.
Having the opportunity to come home and defend his title in less than a month is something that Russell Jr. is excited about, especially given the fact that he’ll be doing it alongside his two brothers who will be fighting in separate bouts on the undercard.
Before the announcement was made regarding the Russell Jr. vs. Escandon clash, Top Rank had announced their fight card at the MGM National Harbor which will take place April 8 and will feature none other than Vasyl Lomachenko–the fighter who handed Russell Jr. his only professional loss.
Round By Round Boxing caught up with Russell Jr. to ask him about his upcoming fight as well as potential future matchups versus the top Featherweight title holders. And of course, we had to ask if a rematch with Lomachenko still interests him.
“[I want] everyone that’s a world champion. Abner Mares just won a title, of course I still want Lee Selby and Leo Santa Cruz recently just got his title back,” said Russell Jr.
“And before my career is over and done with, [Vasyl] Lomachenko gotta see me-twice!”
Russell Jr. lost to Lomachenko via majority decision back in June of 2014 and to say he is hungry for some get back is a massive understatement.
“I don’t care if he loses his next 10 fights, before my career is over and done with he’s gonna have to fight me–twice!”
Lomachenko, who is currently campaigning at 130 pounds, takes on Jason Sosa in an HBO World Championship telecast on April 8.
If Russell Jr. and Lomachenko continue on their championship path, it will be interesting to see if they do indeed engage in a rematch in the future.
