Gary Russell Jr KOs Oscar Escandon
“Mr.” Gary Russell Jr. (28–1, 17 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Md. dominated Oscar Escandon (25–3, 17 KOs) of Colombia en route to a seventh-round stoppage win in his home debut in front of 2,345 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. The fight served as the main event of a Showtime Championship Boxing broadcast.
Russell, 28, used his blinding hand speed to land crisp combinations at will and dominate every second of the fight. Russell dropped Escandon early in the third round with a crushing right hook and proceeded to pound on him the rest of the round, trying to get his man out of there. Escandon, 32, survived the onslaught, but was clearly out-classed.
Russell went back to boxing for the next few rounds, patiently biding his time waiting for the inevitable stoppage. He got it 59 seconds into the seventh round when he landed another short right hook on the temple that sent a wobbly Escandon into the ropes and referee Harvey Dock waved off the fight.
“I fought a tough competitor. I knew Escandon wanted to come and bring his best. I knew he was going to come forward. I was ready for him. We are warriors,” Russell said.
When asked who he wanted to face next, Russell said he wants to avenge his only loss against junior lightweight sensation Vasyl Lomachenko, after first facing the other top featherweights.
“Lomachenko, that’s a no-brainer. I don’t want to do it for the fans or for the media, I want to do it for myself. And I want to do it twice. I’ll knock him out the first time and then, he’ll want me to fight him again,” Russell said.
“I’d love to unify against all the other guys in the featherweight division. I’d like Leo Santa Cruz, Lee Selby, Oscar Valdez.”
Super middleweight Andre Dirrell (26–2, 16 KOs) of Flint, Mich. won the co-feature bout by disqualification after his opponent Jose Uzcategui (26–2, 22 KOs) of Venezuela caught him with a three-punch combination after the bell ending the 8th round.
Dirrell, 33, went down in a heap, prompting some of his family members to cause a disturbance at ringside while doctors attended to the fighter. Dirrell’s uncle Leon Lawson Jr. is being sought by Maryland police after he was caught on video assaulting Uzcategui in his corner after the fight with a vicious left hook-right hand combination. The left hook connected flush on Uzcategui’s chin but thankfully Lawson missed with the right hand, just grazing his neck with the punch instead.
Uzcategui, 26, had also landed a late punch after the bell sounded to end the second round, and was warned for the infraction by referee Bill Clany. At the time of the disqualification, Uzcategui was up on two of the judges’ scorecards 77–74 and 77–75, and the other scorecard was even 76–76.
Dirrell was disappointed with way he won and apologized for his uncle’s actions.
“I forgive Uzcategui. I forgive his camp. I don’t want to win a championship like this. I wanted to win fair and square. But I forgive him,” Dirrell said. I’m sorry for what my coach has done. My coach is my family, my uncle, and he was worried. He cares for me. He loves me. Please forgive him.”
“I’m going to stand up like a man. I didn’t win like I wanted to, but I’ll be back. I’m going to come back as soon as they let me.”
Referee Bill Clancy explained his decision to disqualify Uzcategui.
“The bell rang to stop the round. The round was over and Andre [Dirrell] was knocked out with an illegal punch. So therefore, Dirrell will win this fight by disqualification,” Clancy said. “That’s a blatant foul. Earlier in the fight, I had warned Uzcategui. I warned him. Dirrell wins the fight, he was clearly unable to continue.”
Uzcategui disagreed with Clancy’s decision to disqualify him.
“I was throwing a three-punch combination and I didn’t hear the bell. I didn’t mean to hit him. The third punch wasn’t that hard of a punch. I was surprised he stayed down,” Uzcategui said.
“He [Dirrell] did the same thing against Abraham that he did against me tonight. He quit against me and he quit against him. I deserve to be the winner.”
In the first televised bout, lightweight contender Rances Barthelemy (26–0, 13 KOs) of Havana, Cuba successfully moved up to junior welterweight, winning an entertaining and highly competitive 12-round unanimous decision over Kiryl Relikh (21–2, 19 KOs) of Minsk, Belarus.
In the early rounds, Barthelemy, 30, used his height and reach advantages well and outboxed Relikh by landing accurate combinations on the outside. Barthelemy fought from both the the orthodox and southpaw stances, which befuddled Relikh.
Relikh, 27, was able to get inside and clip Barthelemy with a left hook to the temple late in the fifth round. Relikh followed it up with a flurry which caused Barthelemy to stumble into the ropes and it was ruled a knockdown. Barthelemy was able to get out of the round and get his bearings back.
Barthelemy went back to outboxing Relikh on the outside and returned the favor with a knockdown of his own in the eighth round with a brutal right uppercut to the stomach of Relikh. The last four rounds were full of actioned-pack, back-and-forth exchanges that stunned both fighters. The scorecards were 117–109, 116–110, and 115–111 for Barthelemy.
Showtime’s Steve Farhood scored the bout in favor of Relikh and both fighters thought they deserved the decision.
“I knew it was a close fight but knew I should get a unanimous decision,” Barthelemy said.
“Of course I thought I won. Even TV [Showtime’s Steve Farhood] thought I won. The referee did his job when he called it a knockdown in the fifth. I thought it was over,” Relikh said.
Super bantamweight Alexandru Marin (13–0, 9 KOs) of Silver Springs, Md. cruised to a six-round shut out decision win over German Meraz (55–44–1, 32 KOs) of Agua Prieta, Mexico. Marin, 25, did a good job cutting off the ring and landing accurate combinations throughout the bout. Meraz, 30, was never seriously hurt, but never landed anything of significance himself in the bout. Marin won by scores of 60–54 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell (8–0, 6 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Md. dominated Jovany Fuentes (7–9, 6 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, scoring two knockdowns en route to a third-round stoppage. Russell, 24, dropped Fuentes, 26, with a left hook-right uppercut combination late in round two and finished off Funetes with a devastating right hook 22 seconds into the third round.
“We capitalized on everything we worked on in the gym. We knew he favored his right hook so I would walk to it to try to get him to throw it and he wasn’t really doing it. I just knew I needed to touch and fire and that is exactly what I did,” Russell said.
“There was never any extra pressure because we didn’t magnify this fight just because it was at home. We treat every fight like a championship fight. The Russells are two for two, but personally I think we are already three for three…that’s what’s expected tonight.”
20-year-old, 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne “The Last” Russell (1–0, 1 KO) of Capitol Heights, Md. made a successful pro debut, knocking down Joshua Ross (2–4–4) of Monroe, La. three times en route to a first-round technical knockout victory. The official time of the stoppage was 2:25. The junior welterweight contest was scheduled for four rounds.
“I listened, I followed instructions and it led me to a fast victory. I wish it would have lasted longer. I was looking forward to it being more exciting,” Russell said.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so short. We trained and sparred for twelve rounds, as if I was a professional before my debut and that’s what I was prepared to do — go the distance. But I executed what my father told me to and I got that quick victory.”
In the first bout of the evening, 25-year-old lightweight Cobia “Soldier” Breedy (10–0, 4 KOs) of Clinton, Md. won a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision over a very durable Wilfredo Garriga (4–7–1, 3 KOs) of Ponce, Puerto Rico by scores of 59–55 (x2) and 58–56.
