At the MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, MD, Saturday night Tom Browns TGB Promotions and USA Showtime brought WBC World Featherweight champion “Mr.” Gary Russell, Jr. defending his title for the third time against his No. 1 contender Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz.
WBC World Featherweight champion southpaw “Mr.” Gary Russell, Jr., 29-1 (17), of Capitol Heights, MD, easily defeated southpaw Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz, 26-1 (14), of Downey, CA, over 12 rounds.
In the first round Russell showed his hand speed with his jab and a left to the body. It took Diaz one minute to throw a punch. At the halfway part of the round with Russell dominating with his jab Diaz landed a left uppercut to the chin of Russell. Both southpaws landed body shots at the same time. In the second round Russell came out with lightening punches with both hands to the body and chin of Diaz. Diaz finally came back with rights to the body and lefts to the chin. Diaz landed five punches without return. Diaz went to the body with both hands. Russell came back regaining command at the end of a close round.
In the third round Russell came out fast landing punches to body and head before Diaz landed a good right hook to the head of Russell. Diaz landed a left to the chin of Russell and again. Russell’s hand speed kept Diaz on the defense for most of the round. In the fourth round Russell starts out throwing punches up until near the end of the first minute. Diaz comes back with a pair of hard left hooks to the mid-section of Russell. Russell landed a 3-punch combination that Diaz countered with a hard left to the chin.
In the fifth round with Russell controlling with his jab Referee Ken Cheavala twice warned Diaz of low blows. Diaz finished strong with five unanswered punches in a round Russell controlled with his fast hands. In the sixth round Russell landed a hard chopping left to the head of Diaz. Russell finished the round easily out landing Diaz.
In the seventh round Russell continues to dominate the first minute keeping Diaz on the defense before he starts to go to the body. Diaz landed three body punches with his left. Near the end of the round Russell landed a four punch combination with brilliant hand speed. In the eighth round Russell landed a solid left to the chin of Diaz. Russell landed a pair of chopping lefts to the head of Diaz. Diaz was warned for hitting behind the head. Russell had Diaz face beet red from so many jabs.
In the ninth round Russell’s hand speed has Diaz covering up. At the halfway point Russell landed half a dozen punches without return. Diaz was warned for a kidney punch. It was a lopsided round for Russell. In the tenth round Russell continued to paint the face of Diaz with both hands with as fast a hand as this writer has seen in some time.
In the eleventh round after Russell dominated the first half of the round Diaz opened up with both hands and Russell came back with just as many punches in the best exchange of the fight up until then. In the twelfth and final round it was halfway through the round before Diaz opened up knowing he needed a knockout to win. With seconds left in the fight Diaz landed four punches before Russell returned his punches. Russell’s performance was outstanding.
Judge Braslow 115-113, judge Moretti and judge Palmer 117-111 while this writer had it 119-109.
In the co-feature Middleweight Immanuwel Aleem “La Amenaza” M Aleem, 18-1-1 (11), of Richmond, VA, won by retirement of Juan De Angel, 20-9-1 (18), of Barranquilla, COL, after 6 rounds.
Super Lightweight Gary Antuanne Russell, 6-0 (6), of Capitol Heights, MD, won by knockout at 2:54 of the first round over Dominican Wilmer Rodriguez, 9-3 (7), in a scheduled 8.
Bantamweight Antonio Russell, 11-0 (9), of Washington, DC, won by stoppage at 0:16 of the fifth round over Jonathan “Zurdo” Lecona Ramos, 17-21-4 (6), of Distrito, MEX, in a six scheduled 6.