Comments Thread For: Santa Cruz: To Prove I'm The Best at 126 - I Have To Beat Russell

[HI-TECH Boxing]

Russell needs a fight before fighting Santa Cruz.
Instead of Davis-Mares why not Russell-Mares? It'll give Santa Cruz and Russell a common opponent.

[Shadoww702]

If LSC and Russell ever do fight, I see Leo beating him even more than Loma beat him. Leo may even drop him a couple times along the way.

Yeah GRJ is just too inactive to keep a guy like Leo who throws punches in the 1,000's and never seems to tire off him. I got Leo winning this one.

[Rip Chudd]

Shame though because it's not like he has all the time in World. If he keeps fighting once a year and say he retires at 34 that means he only has 4 fights left in his career.
That's not enough to do what he says he wants to accomplish.
He said he wants to unify at 126, win a title at 130, and rematch Lomachenko. Is he going to be able to do all of that in just 4 fights?

You would think Russell would try to fight as much as possible now that he is still young, even if it means fighting just twice in a year, and be able to retire young.
That sounds like a better idea. He could have been fighting 2 times a year and be done by 33-34.

Trust me, I'm on the same page as you. I thought the same til I saw that interview. I mean I knew he had bad hand problems but the way he was describing it I just didn't know it was THAT bad. He seemed at first like he wanted to go down and be known as great but even he has to know fighting once a year as he is doing isn't going to get him anywhere near what he wants to be remembered as.

[deanrw]

GRJ...massive bouts of inactivity, due to different reasons (mystery injuries), he had a 50% KO at the lower levels and all of a sudden starts showing serious power at world level. No one talks about him but to me he is suspect.

Well he has had really bad hands. I don't doubt that most guys at the top level dapple in performance enhancers though.

[DJrabit]

Leave PBC if they not keeping you active . The rumors was that Santa Cruz Vs Russell was next. What happened PBC. Do we have to wait until 2020 or 2025?

[landotter]

First off, I had never heard of Russell's hand problems. I always appreciate new information, so thanks to everyone pointing it out. Russell's inactivity has been mystifying. If true, that makes more sense.

Leo Santa Cruz is, in my opinion, the last man standing in a loaded division. Seems like he is improving something every fight without giving up his strengths. I got him getting through everyone next year. I am betting this big fights all happen. These guys can make good coin fighting each other. Santa Cruz is just so much fun to watch, and no one at the top of this weight class is a scrub. All of them can toss leather. They will bring out the best in him.

[sunny31]

Well he has had really bad hands. I don't doubt that most guys at the top level dapple in performance enhancers though.

I've heard about the hands thing before, personally I'm not sure that is the only reason. Fighters with hand issues are inconsistent with their activity, what I mean by that is, sometimes they are active (at least two fights a year) and then they've gone through bouts of inactivity, or injury and surgery, granted not everyone's hand troubles are the same, but most fighters fight through it, they dont let it dictate their schedule, especially considering he isn't making a tonne of money and all boxers have a limited shelf life. It doesn't take a year to heal regardless, not even 6 months in fact.

In the end I could be wrong, but he fights in cycles, more or less the same time of year, as I said he didn't look like a puncher coming through, I remember watching him early against journeymen landing everything and he would struggle to get them out of there, a bit like Khan, then all of a sudden he blasted Gonzalez, and Hyland. Something just doesn't feel right with him, but I'm willing to accept this is conjecture

[mlac]

Prove your the best? by fighting Mares in one of the most pointless rematches of all time, and even that took years to build, and now hes fighting a guy that was just knocked out by dat nyuyen and chris avalos in back to back fights? pathetic.

Leo has been in 2 real fights (agaisnt a natural bantamweight) and lost one of them, and then refused the rematch when he got the decision

[slimPickings]

I do not think Leo or Frampton want any part of Mr. GRJ.

He handles both of them with ease.

[Nusky]

I do not think Leo or Frampton want any part of Mr. GRJ.

He handles both of them with ease.

Pretty much.