Unbeaten super lightweight Gary Antuanne Russell held a media workout in his hometown of Capitol Heights, Maryland, on Monday, as he prepares to take on former two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy on Showtime July 30 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The telecast is headlined by two-division champion Danny “Swift” Garcia making his 154-pound debut against exciting contender Jose Benavidez Jr.
Gary Antuanne Russell: “We train for perfection every day. We know that execution is what wins fights. If our opponent can’t make the necessary adjustments to keep us off them, then that’s on them. This sport is a battle of wits. My will versus your will and my intelligence versus yours…if we come out unscathed from July 30, we’ll start working on the next opponent and get another fighter with great credentials in there. We’ll be looking at fighting for the titles. Our goal was to clean out the division. That’s the first goal, then we’ll start moving up to other weight classes eventually.”
Russell was joined at his media workout by his older brother and new trainer, former WBC featherweight world champion Gary Russell Jr.
Gary Russell Jr: “Rances is a great opponent. Whoever wins this fight is getting a big leg up in their career. My brother is looking to take over the division. I don’t think there’s any fighter in the division who he couldn’t beat. He can run through these guys. All he has to do is listen, that’s it…your corner is your last line of defense. As a fellow fighter, I understand that. My brother is still learning to adjust on the fly. He’s learning, but there’s still things left to tweak.”
If Ryan Garcia can’t get Tank or Teofimo and Russell wins this fight, I wouldn’t mind Garcia vs Russell. Superlightweight division is loaded and eventually Garcia might have to face at least one of the top guys in there if he wants to be a champion and the same goes to Teofimo.
Golden Boy would never make that fight.
Now that his career is shot, Gary Russell Jr can train his little brother to perfection. I feel HORRIBLE about their dad. The brothers were all very close with their dad. May he R.I.P.
Speaketh ..
LeKaren James
This shows how tough Boxing fans are. He lost 1 fight in the last 8 years and he is shot?
Magsayo couldnt couldnt get the better of him and Russel only used1 hand from the 3rd round. Thats why Magsayo lost the title so quickly because it was given to him. GRjr is a bad mf.
We can only hope Gary trains his brother to do one thing: fight more frequently and NOT once a year. LOL
Russell needs to get his money and get out. His come forward fighting style is not good for long term. But should get him a bunch of attention. He’s everything Anne Wolf tried to do with James Kirkland.
I have doubts about GAR’s defense and head/hand positions. A solid counterpuncher (with pop) will eventually give GAR major fits. For now, I am not on the GAR train.
There are offensive/defensive rhythms I look for in a fighter, and I remain unconvinced about GAR’s ability to clean out 140. I will keep watching him fight because I hope he develops more.