Gary Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs) is aiming to unify the featherweight division after he makes the third defence of his WBC crown on the Adrien Broner undercard on February 18th.
The American faces Oscar Escandon at the U.S. Bank Arena in Ohio, live on BoxNation, and has set his sights on the other belt holders at 126lbs once he gets past the Colombian.
Speaking at the recent World Boxing Council convention, he said: “I’m giving him an opportunity for working his way up the rankings. God willing everything goes well, I plan on unifying these titles and I want to do it soon.”
There are three other fighters who share a portion of the featherweight throne. Carl Frampton is the WBA Champion, Lee Selby holds the IBF strap and Oscar Valdez is the WBO title-holder. A match-up against any of those men would gain plenty of interest.
“I can still make 126lbs relatively easy. I plan on moving up in weight but I definitely want to clean out this division first. There’s a lot of great fights that the fans will want to see, and we’re willing to give it to them,” said the 28-year-old.
Russell Jr’s only career defeat was a majority decision loss to Vasyl Lomachenko in 2014. He claims he was weight-drained due to an issue with the scale used throughout his training camp and is keen for a rematch.
“I don’t care if he loses his next 10 fights, before my career is over he’ll have to see me again. The people didn’t see the Gary Russell that they’re used to seeing,” added the southpaw.
“I don’t see my career lasting another four or five years. But before I’m done - I’m going to clean this division and Mr.Lomachenkogotta see me!”
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