Gary Russell Jr.: Abner Mares is 'tailor-made for me'

you. know. nothing. that's a nice way of putting it. why because i dont class mares as an elite fighter?

Tailor made? I didnt know Mares was a bum who barely throws

pdl is old slow & was coming off of a 8 month lay off. mares is given way too much credit for that victory on these boards.......... pdl is a iffy fighter. you never know which one is gonna show up (ko'd against lopez and hurt against lesser fighters) russell has fought sh*t comp. but his style is a nightmare for mares..........russell is young, blazing fast. and throws many more punches then mares. if (and thats a big if) if russell can be effective on the top level that style would give mares nightmares.

You guys are under rating Russel a lot. Its true he hasn't faced tough competition. But he's also a skillful boxer who is by far the fastest in the division. Even faster than Rigo. Not saying he's better than Rigo. Rigo is probably p4p 1 in my book, so that aint a fair comparison. Mares is grosly over-rated. I think he's fantastic, but not top ten p4p, that's a joke. I could see Russel boxing his ears off. Russel has faster hands and is far more mobile. But he does look quite a bit smaller. Russell has the fastest hands, yes. A bit of a show boatish type speed, and while he's throwing those hands, he doesn't move. He sets his feet too much, and his chin straight up in the air. He's a Khan waiting to happen. Obviously with better fundamentals, but when he fights someone that's not mesmerized by his shots, he'll get a beating in there. Just watch that YT clip someone posted. His opponent is freezing up when Russell is just standing there, teeing off on him. A world class opponent, doesn't freeze up like that, and get hypnotized by the speed. A world class opponent times that combo coming, and sparks him with an in between left hook.

Russell needs to fight anyone with a pulse

Talk is cheap. Pretty much this.

Russell is very talented but what Mares did to PDL, not even Broner or Gamboa were able to do that. Mares is much more skilled than he looks at first glance, Russell has a tendency to throw his combinations without moving his head, with his weight on the front of foot. It's very dangerous to do that against a guy like Mares who can punch with you and can land his shots from strange angles. As of right now I'd pick Mares by default, Russell needs more experience.

I would love to see a Gary Russell Jr. vs Abner Mares fight imo this is the perfect co-main event for a big ppv. Q&A: Russell says Mares is 'tailor-made' for him by Lem Satterfield Unbeaten featherweight prospect Gary Russell Jr., of Capitol Heights, Md., said that he would like to face junior lightweight standout Yuriorkis Gamboa at a catchweight, and that a fight against 126-pound titleholder Abner Mares would "be so easy," among other things, during a recent Q&A with ******.com. Russell (22-0, 13 knockouts), a speedy southpaw who turns 25 in June, also discussed his physical progress following a diagnosis of a hairline fracture in his left hand which occurred during his unanimous decision over Vyacheslav Gusev on March 2. Trained by his father, Gary Russell Sr., Russell is scheduled to return to action against an opponent to be determined on the July 13 undercard of the Bernard Hopkins-Karo Murat IBF light heavyweight title fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. After his next fight, Russell said he will turn his attention to perhaps the biggest opportunity of his career, which he hopes is a clash with either Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) or Mares (26-0-1, 14 KOs). Gamboa is slated to face Colombia's Darley Perez on June 8 at Bell Centre in Montreal on HBO, and Mares is coming off a ninth-round stoppage of Daniel Ponce de Leon for the WBC's featherweight title on the May 4 Showtime PPV undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Robert Guerrero. Prior to facing Ponce de Leon, Mares also said that he would like to face Russell. Although Russell has said that he "is not signed to any promotions team," the figher's "working relationship with Golden Boy Promotions has also been great." But potential high-profile opponents, such as Nonito Donaire, Guillermo Rigondeaux and RING featherweight champ Mikey Garcia are handled by Top Rank, a bitter rival of Golden Boy and Russell's advisor Al Haymon. ******.com: So I understand that you had an appointment for your daughter at her school today? Gary Russell Jr.: She's only 4 years old. Her name is Sacred, and she's starting pre-K. We had a parent-teacher conference today. Right now, she's right on schedule with everything as far as her developmental skills. She's right on point. RTV: Are you ready to let her go or is that difficult for you? GR: It is a little difficult, man, because that's my baby girl. She's my first born. I have a nine-month old girl who is named Gianna. Two girls. I can not have boys for some reason. RTV: What's so difficult about letting your baby girl go? GR: It's not knowing what's going on. If she's okay. Just the normal worries of a parent, you know? Is she doing good? Is she listening? Are kids picking on her? Is she taking care of herself? There is always going to be questions when it comes to your children. RTV: That's probably a direct parallel to how your father feels about you in the ring, but a contrast to how confident you, yourself, feel when you're in action, right? GR: Oh yeah. Most definitely. And that's weird, because now I kind of understand how my dad feels. Especially when I'm competing. He's the one on bricks. I'm talking about he's completely nervous. He's a nervous wreck the day of the fight. But I tell him, "Dad, it's okay. We're cool. We put the work in in the gym. I'm ready, I'm focused." I tell him, "Go ahead and sit back, I'm going to go and handle this business for us. I'll be back in a little bit." RTV: So how is the progress going in regard to your hairline fracture? GR: Rehabbing is pretty much over. The fracture is pretty good now. I don't really have any problems out of it. We just started back punching and hitting the bag and everything about a couple days ago. We're doing everything in 20 ounce gloves -- the bag, the mitts, everything in 20 ounce gloves. So, we're pretty much ready. We're good. Training camp just started, so we're ready to make this run. We're ready to have a good showing and we're ready to go on July 13. Hopefully, God-willing, my hand holds up and we're looking to try to shoot for a title in maybe the next fight or the fight after that. RTV: With Mares being a virtual promotional stablemate, would he be one of those you would target as far as a title? GR: Actually, Mares and I are not really stablemates. We have a very good working relationship with Golden Boy, but we're not under any contract with Golden Boy. So, that's one of the potential fights that we're planning on looking at. We're looking forward to doing business with Golden Boy down the road, so, you never know. RTV: When you say "Down the road," do you think there is a possibility of getting any other guys, such as Donaire or Rigondeaux? GR: Those are possibilities. As far as getting with Rigondeaux at 122 or something like that, I'm not really sure about that. We're actually looking forward to receiving one of these titles and then move up in weight, maybe to 130 or so. As far as Donaire and them goes, I think we'd probably be willing to meet them at a catchweight or something like that somewhere down the road. RTV: How about Mikey Garcia? GR: Mikey Garcia is definitely not a problem as well. But we're more so looking at receiving one of these titles, moving up in weight and seeing if we can get a super fight with me and Yuriorkis Gamboa. RTV: When you say, "receive one of the titles," what's the one that's most accessible at 126? GR: Honestly, I believe that would be the belt that Abner has. So he can hold onto that for a little bit. But I would be willing to face him. God-willing, if my hand holds up through July, and we get through the fight injury-free, it would be in September or October, somewhere in there. RTV: What are your thoughts on fighting at Barclays on the Hopkins-Murat undercard? GR: I've never been there. Honestly being 100 percent with you, with Bernard Hopkins being the main event, that's definitely not an issue in my eyes. I'm always the main event. I feel as though my performance is so much more stellar than any of the guys that I compete on cards with, anyway. In my eyes, I'm always the main event. As far as it being at the Barclays Center, it's cool. I like it because of the fact that it's an opportunity to have my friends and family that are home, the travel wouldn't be to tough for them so they can come out and see me compete. But I'm 100 percent warrior. I'm a gladiator. We can box on the sidewalk for all that I care. I feel as though the outcome is still going to be the same. RTV: What were your thoughts on Mares' performance against a guy that went the distance with Adrien Broner? GR: I think he's okay. I think he's tailor-made for me. I think that everyone is going to have this fight hyped if it does go down. I feel that everybody's going to have it so hyped up to be a great fight. They're going to hype him up to be a monster. But when I compete against him, it's going to be so easy. I like that, because that's going to really make it. I love the fact that they're going to make this guy look like a monster, so that I can get him and beat him the way that I will beat him. It will make me look that much better. http://******.craveonline.com/blog/178969-qaa-russell-says-mares-is-tailor-made-for-him Gamboa in prime condtion will knock out Rusell so I'm sure they will duck this fight.

Now we are getting to the point where you say "Can you beat someone with a pulse first?" How about actually becoming a world champion before spouting off at the mouth

I like russell but he better leave Mares alone at this point in his career. I think he will lose badly right now. You cant go from the level of garbage he's been in with to Mares.

Mares another vastly overrated fighter you. know. nothing. that's a nice way of putting it.

fight changes after the 8 with mares wearing this dude down for the late ko. make no mistake about it though, russell can pull this off but i just dont see him overcoming mares' grit over 12.

He should demand this fight, Russell needs a career defining fight in his resume. Funny how numerous people on NSB were saying the same thing about Rigo when he was calling out Donaire. And let's not forget that it took numerous low blows and Russell Mora for Mares to beat Agbeko in the first fight. Not hard to see Russell outboxing Mares-- even if he ends up with one hand.

Mares is a chameleon in the ring...dude has a very underrated ring IQ imo....Russell hasn't fought anybody on Mares's level...if this fight gets made I wouldn't bet against Mares....Russell aint prove a damn thing to me yet except he can look like a superstar against bum level comp....thats all!!...time for dude to step up...asap!!!

Mares another vastly overrated fighter

Mares can take a shot so if you injure your hand in that fight you ain't beating no one. Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

Mares by 8th round stoppage with Mares winning at that point but with Russel Jr getting some rounds won.

Mares would be too much for Russell. Love to see the fight to see me proved wrong, though. Dat handspeed.....

Right now, I pick Mares.

He should demand this fight, Russell needs a career defining fight in his resume.