Gary Antuanne Russell Looking To Unify Junior Welterweight

Gary Antuanne Russell wasn't going to be denied this time around

One fight after he fell just short of earning the WBC junior welterweight interim champion in a split decision loss to Alberto Puello, Russell got another chance at gold when he fought Jose Valenzuela on Saturday on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr.

Russell made the most of it, delivering a dominant performance en route to winning a unanimous decision (120-108, 119-109 x2) to become the WBA junior welterweight champion.

Russell's pressure and volume proved to be the difference, as he threw over 70 punches in all but one round and outlanded Valenzuela 252 to 127. Now, Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) has his sights set on more gold at 140 pounds.

“This is a small steppingstone," Russell said after the win. "I’m going for the rest of the belts."

Gary Antuanne Russel will give ANYBODY at 140 a tough fight the way he fought last night‼️ pic.twitter.com/NEz5ElL0Hh
— Hassan (@Hassanwellss) March 3, 2025

There's no shortage of intriguing matchups for Russell. He could seek to avenge the lone loss of his career by rematching WBC junior welterweight champion Alberto Puello, who defended his belt on Saturday with a split decision victory over Sandor Martin. A potential unification bout against Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) would likely be the easiest bout to make given that they fought already under the Premier Boxing Champions banner.

Other unification bouts against WBO champion Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) and IBF champion Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) would likely be much tougher to make. Lopez has aligned himself with Riyadh Season and Turki Alalshikh, while Hitchins likely has to make the first defense of his title against mandatory challenger Subriel Matias.

If Russell can't land a unification bout, a potential fight against Andy Hiraoka, who is ranked No. 1 by the WBA at junior welterweight, has the potential for fireworks. Hiraoka is coming off of a ninth-round stoppage of former title challenger Ismael Barroso.

Regardless, Russell has a number of intriguing directions he can take and junior welterweight is rapidly becoming one of the better divisions in boxing.

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