The Gonzales fight, Gonzales was highly rated at the time, especially after spectacularly knocking out Mares who was a top p4per before his scrap with Jhonny. It should of gotten more credit but people were still giving Russel stick for his excuses after the Loma loss.
The manner he did it was certainly impressive but Gonzalez is historically a glass cannon, the Mares fight is more of an outlier. The Diaz and Tug wins could age pretty well, he has obvious talent and needs better competition (and more often)
I gave up on this guy a long time ago. He’s so good and could have been a star at the lower weights but he doesn’t seem to like fighting because he fights so infrequently. It’s frustrating because I really liked his style. Fun guy to watch but you can’t build a fan base fighting once a year.
I think it's been hand issues. I have mixed feelings because I like him and the Russells all have amazing taste in ringwalk music but his hands are so fast it's hard to see the action.
Ive never heard that but it makes sense. It’s too bad because he’s a pretty cool dude and is so exciting to watch. Hand issues are pretty common but his might be worse than others. As a guy who has broken his right hand three separate times, in fights, I can attest to how painful they are. Not going to pretend to fathom the level of skill and discipline it takes to be a world class fighter like GRJ but I know how painful it is to break bones in your hand and have to punch someone. I broke it the first time in my teens and can still remember the pain. It amazes me to see boxers finish fights and throw punches with a broken hand. I regret criticizing him!
I thought that fight was very close. Haven’t watched a replay, but it thought JoJo did enough to win. Russell showed a lot of resilience in standing up to JoJo’s body attack.
Gonzalez got lucky against Mares. If Mares could’ve recovered, his equilibrium was off, I think he would’ve mauled Gonzalez to win by decision.
Thought JoJo was tough and landed some good body shots, but thought overall Russell was the clear winner