The best fighting the best.
That’s always been the theme in the boxing world. Tune ups and mandatory challengers are a nuisance to fans. There is no way around them. But if they had their choice, fans would rather get rid of them all together.
Call outs, whether they are in the ring, or thanks to COVID-19, on social media, excite everyone. But more times than not, it seems like nothing more than a ploy. Just a way to get the fans talking about fighters.
Calling out a fighter takes a certain amount of loquacious ability. Ryan Garcia has mastered it. His 5.9 million Instagram followers scream to his ability to market himself. But even with the amount of call outs he’s done during his career, the big fights haven’t followed. The same goes for Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis.
WBC Featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. isn’t the talkative type. Instead, he’s more about action.
Russell Jr. was recently shown inside of a boxing gym working out. Nothing surprising about that. But when he stepped on a scale and weighed at 143.5, he raised a few eyebrows.
From there, the usually quiet Russell Jr. had a whole lot to say about the new division he’s eyeing.
“Devin Haney, your father done said something and he might’ve got you in some sh*t shorty,” said Russell Jr. on Instagram. “135, I’m coming. Little Ryan Garcia, shorty you can get your little ass beat too. Tank, wassup shorty?”
Russell Jr. has all of the talent in the world, but boxing fans often forget about him. It’s mainly because he fights once a year and disappears shortly after. It’s a case of out of sight, out of mind. But once he is in sight, it’s hard to keep your eyes off him.
Moving up in weight happens all the time in boxing. But seldom will you ever see a fighter jump up two weight classes. Russell Jr. isn’t the biggest guy in the world, and at 135 he would be giving up a ton of size and weight. But that doesn’t mean he can’t win.
Russell Jr. loves to fight. Hell, he would fight inside of a bathroom stall if possible, but outside of dragging opponents into the ring to fight him, he couldn’t get the big name fighters to face him at 126.
At 135 though, he won’t have that issue. And it didn’t take long for one of the guys that he’s eyeing to clap back at him.
Everyone at 135 is bigger than Russell Jr., but no one, outside of Vasiliy Lomachenko, has his boxing skills. So if it’s a question of whether or not he can compete with the best in the division, than it’s a no brainer.
At 126, no one has even mention Russell Jr.’s name. It was as if he was Candyman and saying his name will make him appear behind you. But at 135, no one will be afraid to call him out.
Maybe it’s because he doesn’t fight as much as he should, but the rest of the division could soon find out that when someone calls out Gary Russell Jr., he doesn’t just respond, but he makes the fight happen.
