Despite his inactivity compared to some champions, Gary Russell Jr. is one of the longest-reigning title-holders in boxing.
But even if the WBC featherweight champion successfully defends his title against mandatory challenger Tugstsogt Nyambayar on Saturday night, the skillful southpaw might give it up. Russell said during the most recent episode of The PBC Podcast that he’ll relinquish that title if he overcomes Mongolia’s Nyambayar and can’t then secure a 126-pound championship unification fight against Leo Santa Cruz.
Russell has long expressed his desire to box Santa Cruz, but the four-division champion appears headed toward a showdown with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, not a much-discussed fight versus Russell.
“I wanna put myself in the weight division to be able to get these matches,” Russell told The PBC Podcast co-hosts Kenneth Bouhairie and Michael Rosenthal. “You know, I’ve been competing. I’m the longest-reigning champion. To be honest with you, after this fight, if I don’t get a title unification match with Leo Santa Cruz, I’ll vacate my title. I’ll definitely vacate my title. You know, because that’s what I want.
“Apparently, the title isn’t getting me what I want anyway. You know, it’s not getting me the fights that I want. A lot of these guys that they consider as the best in the sport, I wanna compete against these guys. But they’re not willing to step in the ring when it comes to me. You know, so maybe I gotta take more drastic measures.”
The 31-year-old Russell (30-1, 18 KOs) will make just the fifth defense of the WBC featherweight crown he won from Mexico’s Jhonny Gonzalez in March 2015 when he encounters Nyambayar (11-0, 9 KOs) in a 12-round main event Showtime will televise from PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The 2008 U.S. Olympian has fought just once apiece in each calendar year since he stopped Gonzalez in the fourth round nearly five years ago.
Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs), who’s also 31, became a world champion in a fourth weight class by beating Houston’s Miguel Flores (24-3, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder November 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Rosemead, California, resident repeatedly stated after defeating Flores that he wants to battle Baltimore’s Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) in his next fight.
Davis has said he could move back down from lightweight to junior lightweight to box Santa Cruz, but Davis continues to struggle to make weight, thus their bout could be contested within the 135-pound division. Santa Cruz won the WBA’s “super” 130-pound title by beating Flores, but he still holds the WBA’s “super” championship in the featherweight division.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
