Saturday, March 12, 2016

Russell, Jr. To Defend WBC Featherweight Title April 16 In Connecticut!

WBC Featherweight champion "Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. will make the first defense of his title on Saturday, April 16 when he takes on Patrick "The Punisher" Hyland of Dublin, Ireland at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, CT.  The bout will be the main event on a Showtime Championship Boxing telecast.

Russell (26-1, 15 KO's) was scheduled to defend his title late in 2015, however he suffered a cut in training.  The man Russell was scheduled to defend his title against, Oscar Escandon, won the interim WBC title with a seventh-round TKO over Robinson Castellanos on March 5 at the DC Armory.  Plans were made for Russell to defend the title against Hyland on the undercard of Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter this weekend but that card was cancelled.

Hyland (31-1, 15 KO's) last fought on October 10 and scored an eight-round TKO over David Martinez in Lowell, MA.

 BATB also hears that Russell's brother, Antonio, will participate on this card.  Antonio Russell, the 2015 Beltway Boxing Rookie of the Year (5-0, four KO's), is coming off a third-round TKO over Eduardo Melendez on October 30 in Orlando, FL.


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