By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten southpaw Gary Antuanne Russell of Capitol Heights, Maryland takes on former Lightweight Champion Rances Barthelemy of Cuba this Saturday, July 30th. The 10-round junior welterweight contest can be seen live on Showtime in America and on TSN 2 in Canada. Russell last fought in February when he stopped Viktor Postol in the 10th and final round while Barthelemy halted Gustavo Vittori in the second round in his last outing in November.
Russell is now 26 years old and is one of the fighting Russell brothers who are all named Gary. He owns a perfect record of 15-0 with all 15 wins coming by way of stoppage for a 100 per cent knockout mark. He has just 39 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career as he boxed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and lost in the quarterfinals in the light welterweight division.
Russell stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a wingspan of 69 inches. He’s gone past the sixth round just once as a pro and that was against Postol in his last fight. He also has seven first-round knockouts, three in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and one in the sixth. He took a step up in class against Postol and is remaining there against Barthelemy. He’s also beaten the likes of Wilmer Rodriguez, Marcos Mojica, Luis Leal, Juan Huertas and Jovanie Santiago.
The 37-year-old Barthelemy is a former IBF Lightweight Champion and IBF Super Featherweight belt holder. He beat Argenis Mendez by unanimous decision in 2014 for the Super featherweight belt and defended it once against Fernando Saucedo. He moved up in weight and captured the vacant IBF Lightweight Title via a unanimous decision over Denis Shafikov in 2015 and defended it against Mickey Bey.
He then beat Kiryl Relikh by unanimous decision with both fighters hitting the deck. He had a rematch with Relikh a year later but lost a unanimous decision in a shot at the vacant WBA Super Lightweight Title. Barthelemy fought Robert Easter Jr. in 2019 in a shot at the vacant IBO and WBA Lightweight Titles with the fight ending in a draw. He’ll enter the ring this weekend with a record of 29-1-1 with 15 Ko’s.
Barthelemy, who now resides in Las Vegas, is also a tall lightweight as he stands 5-feet-10-inches with a 72.5-inch reach which gives him a 3.5-inch reach advantage on Russell. As far as experience goes, Barthelemy has fought 186 rounds since turning pro in 2009 after enjoying a fine amateur career. He’s scored his share of knockdowns and knockouts over the years, but isn’t really known as a heavy hitter as his current knockout ratio stands at 46.9 per cent.
He’s also beaten Angino Perez, Antonio DeMarco and Arash Usmanee as a pro and once captured the Universal Boxing Organization International Lightweight title. It would appear that Barthelemy will try to establish his jab right from the start and that will make it a little difficult for Russell to get close to him. He also has a relatively strong chin, but has been on the canvas before.
Barthelemy is a polished and experienced boxer but is now 37 years old. He’s lost just once and never been stopped but is taking on an opponent who has won all 15 of his fights by knockout. Russell possesses power as well as fine boxing skills so doesn’t necessarily have to rely on a knockout to win. This is another good test for Russell but considering Barthelemy age it’s another one he should pass as long as he works hard enough for it.
