Who do you reckon the No. 1 Feather is at the moment?
Leo Santa Cruz is top of Boxrec (Frampton 2nd) but Gary Russell is a fantastic fighter although he's only fought THREE times in THREE+ years - why the inactivity?
The winner of Quigg v Valdez will have an argument for being at least 2nd in the division although you could say the same about Selby v Warrington.
Rounding out the top fighters is Abner Mares who seems to have been around for a hundred years. He's going up against LSC in June.
East End wrote: ↑22 Feb 2018, 11:57
Right now, I actually think Gary Russell Jr beats all of them
Is he ever going to fight again
It does seem as though he has been frozen out somewhat, with the other 'names' in the division pairing off for some good upcoming bouts. And this despite holding one of the major titles. Russell did say that he would move up if he couldn't get big fights at 126 and has made noises about wanting a rematch with Lomachenko. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing that purely because Loma is so damn good Russell is one of very few who has the skills to at least make a bit of a contest of it.
They seem to be eyeing up Frampton vs Selby/Warrington. I believe Frampton won the WBO Interim title against Donaire which basically makes him mandatory when Valdez is ready to fight. I wonder, if the fight between Frampton and the IBF champ happened, if the winner would keep both belts and therefore be in line to fight Valdez in a unification? It'd be an ideal scenario, but I'm not sure the sanctioning bodies would allow it.
JoJo Diaz is the best fight on paper that Russell will have had since Lomachenko 4 (FOUR!) years ago. He really needs to start calling these guys out and getting in the mix. Unfortunately it seems as though he's happy to fight once a year, pick up his money and then sit back and relax. Surely there'll come a time for him when he thinks "why didn't I do more when I was in my prime?" The guy is clearly talented but between the ages of 25 and 29 will have had about 5 fights.
gary russell is purely a take it easy money fighter it seems, hes content to make his high 6 figure purse for the year then relax and enjoy himself, dont think he gives a f@ck about legacy
hes talked about how its just a business and how the fighters deserve big money and thats all the games about. just doesnt seem like a guy who has much drive once hes gotten paid. he just seems to want to do the bare minimum to keep his belt
A lot of Haymon fighters are happy with well-paid inactivity, IMO. Russell is one of them (didn't he fly off the handle when an interviewer basically asked him "Why do you let Haymon keep you on the sidelines" or something?).