Photo By Esther Lin
We weren’t sure what to make of Gary Russell Jr. before he faced off with Vasyl Lomachenko last year. He fought sporadically and when he did fight, it was against guys who had no business being in the same building as Russell, much less trying to box with him. Oddly enough, we weren’t really sure what to make of him after he lost the bout either.
For all of his talents–electric hand speed and quick reflexes among them–it wasn’t enough against Lomachenko, who defeated him fairly easily despite the hideous 114-114 scorecard turned in by Lisa Giampa. Russell told Jim Gray after that fight that he’d “go back to the drawing board,” a statement as cliched and useless as “it is what it is.”
But that’s pretty much what Russell did. He rebounded from the loss by beating up on Chris Martin in December–not the singer from Coldplay, although that would have been wonderful. He then scored a title fight with Jhonny Gonzalez, who ripped the WBC belt from Abner Mares’ hands in a shocking first-round knockout in 2013. Gonzalez is a nasty puncher whose career has been incredibly up and down since he turned pro in 1999, losing his first two fights.
It was a fascinating clash of styles, with the southpaw Russell bringing the speed and footwork, and Gonzalez bringing the long reach and punching power. The questions were uncomplicated–could Russell rebound from his first pro loss in another big opportunity, and could Gonzalez land a big shot and score another unlikely knockout?
The big punches all landed, but Gonzalez didn’t throw any of them. Instead, Russell turned in a spotless, brilliant performance, first embarrassing Gonzalez with his speed and combination punching, and then drilling him into the canvas.
He baffled Gonzalez early by simply unleashing blistering flurries, landing basically everything. In the first round, it looked like Gonzalez was trying to land punches from about 14 feet away. He closed the distance in the second round, and even landed a couple of decent shots, but Russell remained in full control. In the third, Gonzalez tried to corner Russell, but he swallowed a nasty left before a brutal counter right hook corkscrewed him into the mat. The round ended after he rose, but he never recovered. Russell dropped him twice more and finished him off in the fourth.
With the win, Russell has firmly planted himself into the thick of the Featherweight division.
So where can Russell go from here? He’d probably love to go back after Lomachenko, but the odds of that happening are pretty awful. Al Haymon might be working with Bob Arum for the Mayweather–Pacquiao fight, but that’s as far as that relationship goes. And quite frankly, Russell’s big win over Gonzalez kind of underlines just how good Lomachenko actually is. Even if we threw management aside, Russell probably gets the wrong end of that fight again.
While we can eliminate Lomachenko, we can certainly count Abner Mares as a possible foe. Mares is also managed by Al Haymon, which is crucial, but he also just fought a couple of weeks ago, so he’d be ready to go right around the time Russell is ready again. The Mares from a couple of years ago probably goes into that fight as a strong favorite, but it sure seems like that version of Mares, the terrific and relentless boxer/puncher, is long gone.
Instead, we’ve witnessed a tentative fighter who is struggling with guys he should be destroying. Perhaps he’ll never recover from the drilling he took at the hands of Gonzalez, but he seems like a perfect opponent for the lighting-quick Russell to look fantastic against.
For starters, Mares would have to figure out how to deal with Russell’s hands. Obviously, fast hands don’t always equal a win, but it sure helps when you can unload a five punch combo while your opponent is still trying to react to the first shot. Mares would have to try to dig to Russell’s body to slow him down. That’s probably the only way he would have a legitimate shot at winning the bout.
The other problem is that the Gonzalez win should shoot Russell’s confidence into the stratosphere, while Mares still seems to be searching (and coming up frustratingly empty) for his old form. Though this fight seems like a definite win for Russell, it also appears to be the easiest to make.
The other fight? How about Leo Santa Cruz? Santa Cruz pissed away all the momentum he gained a couple years ago by engaging in fights against awful competition while avoiding Guillermo Rigondeaux like the Cuban was afflicted with a combination of smallpox and ebola. Now officially under the Haymon banner, Santa Cruz may take a fight with Russell.
It would probably be an exciting fight, because Santa Cruz throws about 1,400 punches per round and appears to enjoy taking multiple punches to the head. Russell would have to combat Santa Cruz’s relentless pressure with his hand and foot speed. Would Russell wilt from all of the punches Santa Cruz fired off? Or could he connect with another right hook and send Santa Cruz down and out for the first time? It seems like those are the perfect questions to be asked on a PBC fight in primetime.
Russell toiled for years as a noted prospect who either refused to take a step up or was coddled gingerly by his management. It finally appears like the training wheels are off, and better still, like Russell is ready to handle the jump in competition.
Here’s the thing–Jhonny Gonzalez wasn’t some undefeated monster who was destroying everything until he met Russell. The guy has major flaws. He’s been badly knocked out a few times. But he was, other than Lomachenko, Russell’s best opponent BY FAR. He proved he was a dangerous man by tearing through Mares. So while Gonzalez wasn’t a world beater, Russell made a major statement by not simply walking through a 12 -round decision, but by wrecking the guy. He looked damn good before scoring a knockout. Everybody respects the singles hitter, but everybody LOVES the home run.
Regardless of Russell’s next opponent, we want to see more of him. In boxing, that’s usually more important than winning or losing.
Some Random Notes From Saturday’s Fights
Anybody else appreciate referee Russell Mora stopping the Charlo-Martirosyan fight to let Charlo know that Martirosyan landed a clean body shot? This is the same guy who sat back quietly while Abner Mares used Joseph Agbeko’s testicles as a speed bag for 12 rounds. Apparently, he now knows what a low blow is. Problem is, he doesn’t need to stop the fight to point that out to a fighter. Still, I guess that’s progress…
That 97-93 score in favor of Jermell Charlo from Adalaide Byrd was absolutely awful. Apparently, wearing glasses the size of vanity mirrors doesn’t help as much as you’d think.
I don’t know what the hell the color commentator from the Kell Brook fight was saying. I barely understood a word. But the fact that he sounded exactly like Groundskeeper Willie made him immediately more enjoyable to me than everyone else we have to listen to.
Brook beat the living shit out of a normally durable fighter in Jo Jo Dan. I think he’d be a nightmare for Amir Khan, should the fight ever come off.
The best part of the Charlo-Martirosyan fight was watching Ronnie Shields scream obscenities at Charlo. Also, the ring doc telling Vanes that basically everything he was saying was going to lead him to stop the fight was pretty humorous. Even better was when Vanes figured that out and promptly said he was fine.
