Gary Russell Jr.: record, next fight and profile →
Leo Santa Cruz is sure he’ll finally fight Gary Russell Jr. later this year. Regardless, Santa Cruz won’t move up from featherweight to 130 pounds without having faced Russell. If he did that, Santa Cruz realizes fans will criticize him for avoiding what is perceived to be his most imposing opponent at 126 pounds.
Three-division champion Abner Mares said he believes left-handed WBC 126-pound champion Gary Russell is better than WBA “super” and WBO interim counterparts Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton during Saturday’s initial episode of “Inside PBC Boxing” on FOX. The 33-year-old Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs) serves as a lead analyst on the Premier Boxing Champions’ studio show along with two-time and current WBC 147-pound champion Shawn Porter.
Two-division and WBO interim featherweight champion Carl Frampton called left-handed WBC counterpart Gary Russell Jr. “a terrific fighter” and “certainly one of, if not, the best featherweights in the division” during an interview in August.
LOS ANGELES – Leo Santa Cruz had a big victory this year – a unanimous decision in his rematch with Abner Mares in June – and that’s it. He will have fought only that one time in 2018, which doesn’t sit well with him. That’s why the WBA featherweight titleholder is determined to make a big splash in 2019.
Two division world champion Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs) is hungry to reclaim a world title. He gets the opportunity on December 22, when he faces undefeated IBF featherweight world champion Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KOs) at Manchester Arena.
The WBC ordered the best featherweight fight that can be made in boxing during its annual convention Wednesday in Kiev, Ukraine. The Mexico City-based sanctioning organization announced that its featherweight champion, Gary Russell Jr., must make a mandatory defense of his title against fellow champion Leo Santa Cruz. Russell-Santa Cruz is one of the fights Premier Boxing Champions’ Al Haymon wants to make at some point in 2019, but the WBC’s order could expediate scheduling that 126-pound showdown and make it the next fight for each champion.
Gary Russell Video Interview - Former world champion Andre Berto (32-5, 24 KOs) won a back-and-forth fight by split decision Saturday night against fellow former champion Devon Alexander (27-4-1, 14 KOs) in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX & FOX Deportes from NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Leo Santa Cruz (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has not yet finished digesting the rematch victory he had last month against division rival Abner Mares in Los Angeles, and he is already excited about the possibility of unifying world titles in December with another Mexican, Oscar Valdez, who recently launched a direct challenge.
Leo Santa Cruz defended his WBA Featherweight World Championship by winning a unanimous decision against four-division world champion Abner Mares in their rematch Saturday night on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.
In addition to fighting for the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title, Mexicans Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares will practically have a WBC eliminator on Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.