LAS VEGAS – Gary Russell Jnr didn’t look like a 37-year-old who had been out of the ring for more than three years as he dominated Hugo Castaneda, dropping him four times and stopping him in the 10th round of a lightweight contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The fight was on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s challenge of WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios.
From the beginning, Mexico’s Castaneda, 15-3-1 (11 KOs), looked to press the action as two-time featherweight champ Russell sought to respond with pinpoint counters. Russell’s strategy – and hand speed and skill – soon proved the superior, as he dropped Castaneda with a hard right hook counter in the second, and again with a follow-up flurry with the Mexican’s back against the ropes.
Russell, 32-2 (19 KOs), appeared to be biding his time, happy to counter off the ropes between Castaneda’s loping shots. In the sixth, a perfect right hook spun Castaneda’s head round and crumpled him to the canvas, but still Russell waited.
Finally, in the 10th, Russell stepped to his left and dug a left hand under Castaneda's ribs. Castaneda collapsed to his hands and knees, tried to rise and went down again, prompting referee Harvey Dock to call a halt at 26 seconds of the round.
Mexico’s David Picasso remained unbeaten courtesy of a majority decision win over Kyonosuke Kameda, 15-5-2 (9 KOs), in a 10-round featherweight contest.
In a fast-paced, grueling battle, both men had their moments, but Picasso, 32-0-1 (17 KOs), landed the cleaner punches throughout and was more successful and accurate in the bulk of the exchanges. Scores were 95-95 and 98-72 and 97-93 for Picasso.
Former featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo, 28-3 (18 KOs), made it four wins in a row with a comfortable unanimous decision win over Jorge Mata.
Magsayo was simply too fast and too accurate for Mata, who was unable to prevent the Philippines’ Magsayo from tattooing him with lead left hooks, right hands and periodic uppercuts. Although Mexico’s Mata found something of a rhythm over the closing stages and was able to land some punches in exchanges as Magsayo tired, the result was in no doubt. Judges’ scores were 100-90 (twice) and 98-92. Mata fell to 21-3-2 (13 KOs).
In the card’s opening bout, the Philippines’ Eumir Marcial, a 2021 Olympic bronze medalist and training partner of Manny Pacquiao’s, dismissed Bernard Joseph, 11-3-1 (5 KOs), by third-round knockout.
The bout ended at the 1-minute, 55-second mark after middleweight Marcial, 6-0 (4 KOs), first knocked Joseph to the canvas in the first round.
A hard left to the head was the closing punch on Joseph in the third, as the Massachusetts fighter failed to crawl upward and the referee waved the fight over.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, including most recently Arctic Passages: Ice, Exploration, and the Battle for Power at the Top of the World, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
