Former Olympic bronze medallist Hugh Russell passed away last week after a short illness. He was 63.
Southpaw Russell won a batch of Irish titles for the Holy Family club in Belfast and boxed at the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978 with a Northern Ireland team that included Barry McGuigan, Gerry Hamill and Ken Beattie. He reached the flyweight semi-finals where he had the misfortune to face Canadian star Ian Clyde, who pulled out a big right hook to stop Hugh in the first round. Clyde had done the same to Charlie Magri a couple of years earlier at the Montreal Olympics, finishing Magri in the third and final round.
Russell came back with wins over the likes of Gerry Hawkins and Dave McAuley and earned selection at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in an Irish side that included McGuigan and Phil Sutcliffe, both of whom lost early. Hugh surprised everyone by going all the way to the semi-finals where he was outscored by Bulgaria's Peter Lesov, a man who won the gold medal. Red-haired Russell, a fine boxer with a sharp punch, turned pro a year later with Barney Eastwood and picked up British flyweight and bantamweight titles.
Hugh Russell -RIP
Re: Hugh Russell -RIP
That went under the radar, 63 is no age nowadays rip
Re: Hugh Russell -RIP
How come he retired so early, just after winning the Lonsdale belt, you would have thought bigger fights would have been on the horizon
Re: Hugh Russell -RIP
His last fight was a blood and guts war with the unheralded Charlie Brown of Glasgow on the McGuigan-Laporte undercard at the King's Hall (with Ray Leonard at ringside). Brown was given a shot despite a record that marked him down as a complete no-hoper but he piled into Russell for round after round, busting him up and looking set for victory when Russell dug deep and forced a thrilling 12-round stoppage to win the Lonsdale Belt outright. Russell had already forged a successful career as a news photographer and was probably struggling to make flyweight, having won the British title at bantamweight before losing it and dropping down to upset Kelvin Smart. The Brown struggle convinced him to call it a day.
Re: Hugh Russell -RIP
Great knowledge as usual palbennie wrote: ↑16 Oct 2023, 21:27His last fight was a blood and guts war with the unheralded Charlie Brown of Glasgow on the McGuigan-Laporte undercard at the King's Hall (with Ray Leonard at ringside). Brown was given a shot despite a record that marked him down as a complete no-hoper but he piled into Russell for round after round, busting him up and looking set for victory when Russell dug deep and forced a thrilling 12-round stoppage to win the Lonsdale Belt outright. Russell had already forged a successful career as a news photographer and was probably struggling to make flyweight, having won the British title at bantamweight before losing it and dropping down to upset Kelvin Smart. The Brown struggle convinced him to call it a day.
