Gary Antuanne Russell Willing To Drop To Lightweight To Fight Gervonta Davis
The men’s boxing lightweight division is arguably the hottest division at the moment, flooded with Gen Z talents who many experts think will be the face of boxing in a few years.
Light welterweight contender Gary Antuanne Russell also happens to share the same ambitions as he is willing to drop down to 135 to face Gervonta Davis.
The undefeated, Russell (15-0, 15 KOs) will be fighting this Saturday night against former two-division world champion Rances ‘Kid Blast’ Barthelemy (29-1-1, 15 KOs) on the Danny Garcia-Jose Benavidez Jr. undercard at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Russell is expected to make short work of Barthelemy this weekend, but even a slight distraction in his focus could leave him in a calamity against the experienced, Barthelemy.
And listening to his pre-fight interviews, it seems like Russell is more interested in talking about those Gen Z talents than the one that will be on his head soon.
“I’m in this division, and this person has this title, and this person has two titles. I just need them. It don’t matter. Of course, each time I weigh in, I come in at 137, 136.8, and I’m fighting at 140,” said Russell to Fighthype.
Russell feels that he has the style and finesse to overpower any of these lightweight sensations. The Maryland native is undefeated so far as a professional, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout.
Back in May, Davis leathered Rolando Romero at the same venue, winning the bout in the sixth round when he downed the latter with a straight left. Russell believes Romero was no match to Tank’s superior ring IQ and was too slow to comprehend the situation.
“Rolly, he’s a pressure fighter and thought he could walk Tank down. A lot of times, you don’t see Tank boxing. He really got touched too many times in that fight by a slow fighter, but it was still something of his game plan,” he added.
“I’m going to box him; Rolly is slow and will come in; he’s strong, and I’m going to out-slick him. I’m sharper, and I’m going to set him up. That’s what he [Tank Davis] did. He set him up with a left hand.”
Russell has also set his sights on Ryan ’ Garcia who has indicated moving to 140 lbs following his victory over Javier Fortuna earlier this month. The 26-year-old southpaw believes that Garcia will be easy work for him, a lot easier than Tank if the two ever met in the ring.
“Hell, no. Easy money,” said Russell when asked if Ryan Garcia would be a tough fight for him.
Russell has got his work cut out against Barthemely this Saturday night and if he stays honest to his words and comes out on top in an impressive fashion, he could get who he wants.