LAS VEGAS - If there is one aspect of the career of Gary Russell Jnr that has frustrated, it has been his inactivity.
At the age of 37, and after a career that began more than 16 years ago, his record remains a solid but sparse 31-2 (18 KOs). That’s less than two fights a year and, of course, for much of that time he has been far less active than that. Since suffering his first professional defeat, to Vasiliy Lomachenko, in June 2014, he has fought just eight times: once more in 2014, once a year from 2015 through 2020, and then his second pro loss, to Mark Magsayo in January 2022.
Since then, nothing. But Russell, who returns against Hugo Castaneda at the MGM Grand on Saturday on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s challenge of Mario Barrios, had good reason for being out of the ring.
Speak with any of the Russell brothers for any length of time and it soon becomes clear that the only thing that truly matters to all of them is family. Their fraternal bond is strong, and their love for their father absolute, so Russell can be forgiven for putting his own boxing career on hold for a while in the face of three years of family turmoil.
Family patriarch, Gary Snr, who trained Gary Jnr and his brothers Gary Antuanne and Gary Antonio, died in May 2022 at the age of 63 after battling multiple health issues. That came just 17 months after another of the brothers, Gary Boosa, died of a heart attack aged just 25.
“So for the last three and a half years, I felt as though I had to put myself in the back seat, you know, and focus on everyone else,” Gary Russell Jnr said on Thursday as he and Antuannne talked with BoxingScene. “Focus on my younger brothers. Focus on my children. I just got custody of the children of my younger brother that passed. So I got a house full of children: his children and mine. And I feel like for about three years I’ve been focused on everyone else other than myself. I finally got a little bit of downtime to do something for me.”
He has taken over head trainer duties for both Antonio and Antuanne, which culminated in the latter bouncing back from defeat to Alberto Puello to take the WBA 140-pound belt from Jose Valenzuela in March.
“My brother, he's wearing some big shoes, and I'm just following suit,” said Antuanne. “Since I've been boxing, he's always been a canvas that I was paying attention to, to make sure that I'd know right from wrong in this square circle. It paid off and now I'm world champion.”
“[Gary Snr] been prepping me without me knowing that he was prepping me,” added Gary Jnr. “My father was prepping me without me knowing, you know. So I was always working hand in hand with my father, spearheading and navigating my younger brother’s career. You can think back to when I fought JoJo Diaz [in May 2018]. Antuanne fought and I had to work his corner. Antonio fought, and I had to work his corner. And then I had to go back and get ready and defend the [WBC featherweight] title in the main event.
“I’ll tell you this, when I won my title, I wasn’t excited for me. I was excited for my father. When my younger brother won his title, I was excited for my brother, but I was also excited for my father as well, right? You know what I mean? I was excited for my brother. I was excited for my father because it was more of a thing like: ‘Okay, Pops, we ain’t let you down and we still pushing.’”
The brothers’ sense of love and gratitude for their father remains palpable.
“There were a lot of times, a lot of lonely nights, long nights, sad nights, when he was always there to cook us dinner, to still teach us,” explained Antuanne. “He put his life on hold for us wholeheartedly, and that’s something that we want to give back so all that time he invested in us will prove worthwhile.”
To that end, Antuanne is hoping to unify his belt later this year, perhaps against Subriel Matias, who just defeated Puello to take the WBC belt, or Richardson Hitchins, who holds the IBF strap.
As for Gary Jnr, he is happy to test the waters, test his recently-repaired right shoulder, and see how he feels against Castaneda on Saturday.
“I had a great camp,” he said. “I feel good. I’m just excited to be back.”