By Jake Donovan

There’s no greater opportunity for most amateur boxers than to represent their country in the Summer Olympics. No matter what happens from there, be it winning Olympic Gold or being sent packing in the opening round of competition, the memories are still enough to last a life time.

Then again, most Olympic boxers get the chance to end their career in the ring, for better or worse.

For amateur standout Gary Russell Jr, life in the non-pay ranks ended in an Olympic dorm room in Beijing. It was there where the 20-year old southpaw was found passed out, suffering from dehydration after failing to boil down to the 119 lb weight limit for which he qualified.

One by one, he’d watch his teammates fall, with good friend and heavyweight representative Deontay Wilder saving the squad from being the first ever to not capture a single medal. But they at least had the chance to try and fail; all Russell could do was sit back and watch, before returning home to the D.C. area (Capitol Heights, MD, to be exact) to plan his next move while thinking for a moment on what could’ve been.

“The fans and everyone else missing out on seeing me do my thing in the Olympics is really what hurt  the most,” says Russell, who plans to campaign in the featherweight division for the time being. “I feel like I let my mother and father down, but they’ll love me regardless. What hurts most is the fans who missed out, the people who donated money to help my journey. TThose who watched me do road work. I feel like I let them down.

“This is how I thank them by becoming the world champion in the pros.”

It’s a long road between now and the jackpot, but most important for the moment is taking that long awaited next step. That moment comes this Friday, when he makes his pro debut against 3-2 Antonio Reyes in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The opportunity couldn’t be better, as he will be a part of a special edition of Shobox: The New Generation, serving as the opening act of a rare tripleheader.

Some in the industry suggested that he’d have a hard time in the beginning of his pro career, given what went down in Beijing last summer. Because he qualified at 119, there exists a group of critics who fail to sympathize with his struggle to make weight, despite the fact that every fight he had between the qualifier and the Games had taken place at 125 lb.

Obviously, the opposite turned out to be true.

“We had plenty of promoters calling us, asking us to sign with them,” states Russell, who will remain a free agent for the moment. “In the end we decided to just go with a manager (Al Haymon). He has as much pull as anyone else, and helps keep the middleman out, which puts more money in my pocket.”

If Russell has his way, there’ll be plenty of coin to be made right out the gate. Plans call for a fight this weekend as well as another as early as three weeks away, on the non-televised undercard of another Showtime event if everyone likes what they see on Friday. All told, Russell hopes for 10 fights – “hopefully 10-0, 10 knockouts by the end of 2009,” and already with high expectations for year two.

“I’m hoping by midway through 2010, I’m looking to get something with Yuriorkis Gamboa.”

Certainly not the rationale of a man weighed down by the Olympic debacle. That’s not to say that he’s completely left Beijing in the rearview mirror. Quite the opposite; that which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

“I won’t forget, I don’t want to forget about. Everything in life molds you to the person you are. I want to use it as motivation.”
Left behind are the feelings he had over not being able to compete on the amateur’s highest stage. In its place, anticipation to move forward.

“I’m just ready to get this show on the road; it’s been a while since I’ve performed in that square.”

When he performed as an amateur, there were few who did it better. Having first laced ‘em up at age eight, the wins and titles soon followed for the prodigious talent. Among his many accolades were back-to-back national championships, a Junior Olympic championship, and a National Golden Gloves title, all before the tender age of 17.

All told, more than 200 wins in his amateur career paved the way for a trip to the 2007 Olympic Trials. He’d eventually qualify, but not before suffering an opening round loss to Roberto Marroquin of Dallas. Russell had beaten him early in his career, and would have to beat him twice more in order to advance to the World Amateur Championships later that year.

Making the 2008 Olympic boxing squad meant relocation, as new head coach Dan Campbell demanded his team set up training camp in Colorado Springs. Several members, as well as their trainers, showed resistance, believing it would serve as a detriment to what already helped get them to that point.

It was suspected that such would be the case with Russell Jr, who for his entire amateur career was guided by his father Gary Sr. Instead, Russell used the opportunity to prove to others, and himself, that he had evolved into a real man.

“I had a lot of fun when it came to the training and being in a completely different environment. It gave me a lot of time to think and learn and see how things were outside of home for an entire year. It gave me the ability to show everyone how well my parents raised me.”
 
Considering the end result, many people would’ve ran wild with the trend of throwing Coach Campbell under the bus. Russell missing weight, teammates one by one claiming a disconnection between student and teacher – it became a time when it was easy to use the setbacks as a crutch.

That’s if you’re weak-minded enough to bitch about what could’ve been rather than figure out what will become.

“I don’t look at what happened as something being taken away from me. If you’re mentally strong, a lot of things that happen to the average person won’t happen to you.”

A strong will is what he believes will help make for a smooth transition from amateur to pro.

“When you’re boxing between ages 8-17 or so, you still have school and all of that other stuff. When it comes to pro, it’s just boxing.

“A lot of people don’t get the jobs they enjoy. I’m in a good position. I get to do what I love. This boxing is something that I do better than I do anything else, so why not do this all of the time.”

If he has his way, he’ll do it as often as possible, at least in the early stages of his career. And unlike the Olympics, when another trainer was forced upon his teammates and him, a familiar face returns to the corner for his pro debut and beyond. That face is the same one he sees, day and night, in and out of the gym, which would be dear old Dad.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, though.

“It has its ups and its downs, but it’s mostly all good. It’s like, you hear him in the gym all day, then I go home and I gotta hear him some mo’. It’s like, damn, you can’t get away sometimes.

“But the good thing about it is this: I got a relationship with my trainer in and out of the gym. It ain’t like that with other fighters and trainers. I mean, you can call someone and talk if you want. But with me, I can leave the gym and still talk face to face with my Dad about boxing at all hours of the night.”
 
Most important in the relationship is Gary Sr’s ability to ease up on the reins and allow Jr to do his thing. It’s worked for the past twelve-plus years. If it ain’t broke… and all that good stuff.

“Me and my Dad done worked on everything we need to do for Friday. All that’s left is to go in there and have fun. I just can’t wait to compete.

“I’m cool with what’s happened in the past. But I’m just ready to do this boxing thing again.”

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .