Be nice if we could imagine these two featherweights were likely to meet...but I won't get my hopes up too high. But anyway, who do you think has looked more promising? Admittedly Garcia's career is a bit more advanced and of course we're only really judging Russell on some clips we've seen on youtube
Garcia seems to have better fundamentals and appears more refined technically, he's got great technique and throws some wicked counterpunches. His timing is also top notch and he kind of reminds me of Marquez in the way he throws shots sometimes. He's plateaud a bit recently, I thought he didn't look all that great against Remillard, a fighter who was at least a class below him. That fight was close until Garcia's close told and he was able to just beat up Remillard. He didn't look outstanding, where he should have in all honesty. Also needs to be more active than he is. Garcia's at the top of his game, he should be looking at titles, not fighting infrequently against poor opposition. He's got Bernabe Concepcion up next, WTF is that ****? He shouldn't be fighting guys of that level. Technically, he's very impressive, but the handling of his career and his progression of late it poor IMO. Russell has been more impressive of late. We knew he was ****ing rapid, but against Heriberto Ruiz he showed that power aspect of his game which was a bit of a concern until recently. Reflex based style that works very well for him. He's got a solid set of fundamentals and he's looked impressive in almost every outing. I've seen a bit less of Russell than I have Garcia, so my take probably isn't the most accurate, but he's looked very sharp to me. I'd say he's better than Adrien Broner is almost every department. Garcia's class and counterpunching ability has impressed me more thus far, but his career has stalled a bit and I expect over the next year or 2 that Russell will be the more impressive fighter. Good thread btw.
I think that's a good analysis. I must admit I often think of this matchup. I think it could be a great clash of styles. Shame we can't talk of boxers being on a collision course these days. Garcia looks very composed in the ring but I wonder if he might need an extra gear in his repetoire for when he steps us. Obviously Russell has tremendous natural ability but I guess it's still too early to judge him with too much confidence but he just might have further to go before he reaches his ceiling, so to speak.
Good thread, good post from Aston also. I don't really have an answer though because I think they're at two different stages. I consider Garcia to be pretty much at contender level at this juncture, whereas Russell's still a prospect. I like Garcia though, added to the points made by you dudes above I think he is - or will prove himself to be - one of the best finishers in the sport. As soon as he smells blood he's pretty adept at taking his man out, picks his spots very well and steps up the pace just right. Which is odd, because apart from when he has his man in trouble he's a bit one-paced for me, he doesn't really move through the gears very well. He's a very solid all-rounder though, there aren't a huge amount of deficiencies to his game, he's got the basics covered while not really excelling in much. I'm still not sure about Russell. For me, an awful lot of young fighters can get to a certain level based on pure athletic ability alone before any lack of boxing ability can be taken advantage of(kind of like an Andre Berto, even someone like James DeGale if you want to go to a lower level). He seems to have a lot of talent, but it's a bit difficult to tell thus far, Ruiz really isn't the fringe world-level guy he once was so not even blitzing him convinced me that he has real top-level skills. Even for a reflex-based fighter his defense is a tad leaky IMO. If I had to stick my neck out though I'd say he might go further than Garcia will, while I mentioned guys like Berto and DeGale, their stylistic flaws were always a bit glaring whereas that's not really the case with Russell Jr, where it's more of the case that I'm waiting to see if it will happen. He's lightning fast and evidently explosive, which translates well if he plans on venturing upwards in weight. I'd say that currently Mikey has impressed me to a greater extent, but that Russell Jr will go farther in the long run, assuming he has more to him than just athletic gifts, which seems to be the case.
Hard to say. I'm not all on Garcia. I don't think he's all that, but he's faced better comp than GR jr and Russel would obviously look more impressive because he's blowing out lesser skilled opposition. Russel for me. Mikey's power makes up for the flaws, for now. GR seems to be more rounded and fundamentally sound (imo).
Concepcion is a **** fight but it is on the undercard of Lopez-Salido II if I am not mistaken and he has been promised the winner.
That's exactly what I thought from watching the Remillard fight. He looked solid, it was very hard to pick a flaw in his game, but he didn't seem to excel in any areas. Agree with the points on Russell too, good post.
Yeah? That's a good fight for Garcia. He could beat both of them, though I think JuanMa might be trouble for him.
I've seen a couple of Garcia fights & he's looked good but I think Russell Jr is a potential superstar
