Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Andy Hiraoka | DAZN - February 21, 2026

[Ruthless-RKO]

Gary Antuanne Russell-Andy Hiraoka WBA title fight ordered

Gary Antuanne Russell is already on to the next one.

It wasn’t by choice that the newly crowned WBA junior welterweight titlist cut short his victory lap. A sanctioning body ruling has required Russell to next face mandatory challenger Andy Hiraoka.

A 30-day negotiation period was formally assigned on Tuesday, giving the two sides until May 21 to reach a deal. A purse bid hearing will be assigned in the event they can’t come to terms.

“Per Championship Rule C.10, a titleholder must defend the belt against the next available contender within 120 days of claiming the title,” the WBA declared in a ruling made public Tuesday. “For Russell, who captured the crown on March 1, the deadline to fulfill his mandatory obligation is July 1 of this year.

“Should the parties fail to reach an agreement within the designated negotiation period – or if either side refuses to participate – the WBA reserves the right to call a purse bid.”

Russell fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner and is represented in talks by TGB Promotions. Hiraoka is a proud member of the Ohashi Boxing Gym in his hometown of Yokohama, Japan. Among his gym mates is four-division champ and pound-for-pound entrant Naoya Inoue, 29-0 (26 KOs).

Russell, 18-1 (17 KOs), became the second member of his famous fighting family to claim a major title with his dominant March 1 points victory over Jose Valenzuela, 14-3 (9 KOs). A 28-year-old southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland, Russell won nearly every round on all three scorecards to claim the WBA junior welterweight title. The fight served as the PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View co-feature to the Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Lamont Roach Jnr WBA lightweight title fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Guiding Gary Antuanne Russell, a 2016 Olympian, on fight night was Gary Russell Jnr, Gary Antuanne’s older brother who held the WBC featherweight title from 2015-2022.

The younger Russell’s title win came nine months after his lone career defeat. Russell dropped a 12-round decision to Alberto Puello in their vacant WBC junior welterweight title fight last June 15 in Las Vegas.

Hiraoka, 24-0 (19 KOs), has been the mandatory challenger since a ninth-round knockout of Ismael “Abuelo” Barroso, 25-5-2 (23 KOs), last September 3 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The bout was part of a show headlined by Inoue’s seventh-round stoppage of TJ Doheny to successfully defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship.

With the win, Hiraoka – also a 28-year-old southpaw – extended his current 10-fight knockout streak. Five of his bouts have been scheduled for 12 rounds, though Hiraoka has yet to be extended beyond the 11th round. Even that has happened only once, in an October 2021 knockout of countryman Jin Sasaki, now the mandatory challenger to WBO welterweight titlist Brian Norman Jnr.

Russell has never fought outside the US through eight years as a pro. Hiraoka has made all but two bouts in his native Japan; the other two took place in Las Vegas on shows promoted by Top Rank.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Gary Antuanne Russell-Andy Hiraoka set to land on first PBC event of 2026

Gary Antuanne Russell and Andy Hiraoka will have to wait until the new year for their long-ago ordered meeting.

Boxing Scene has confirmed that the WBA 140lbs title fight is expected to land on the first Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) event of 2026. Company officials were not in a position to comment on the matter or even confirm or deny the development. However, it is understood that their bout will be scheduled for either January 31 or February 21, the uncertainty related to a pair of separately targeted title fights still being negotiated.

The latter date is expected to be topped by the previously rumored Mario Barrios-Ryan Garcia WBC 147lbs title fight. Garcia took to social media to insist that he has signed for the fight. Boxing Scene has learned that the matter is not quite yet at that point, though the date will be firm should representatives quickly tie up all loose ends.

January 31 was previously teased to feature the return of former eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao. At the time, the rumor called for the hall-of-fame boxer to challenge WBA 147lbs titlist Rolando “Rolly” Romero. However, nothing has yet come of that match-up, and Romero is set to next face mandatory challenger Shakhram Giyasov.

Either way, Russell, 18-1 (17 KOs), and Hiraoka, 24-0 (19 KOs), can expect to hear a firm update in the very near future on their overdue title fight.

The bout officially became homeless with the cancellation of a Netflix card on November 14 that was to be led by the previously announced Jake Paul-Gervonta “Tank” Davis exhibition. The high-profile affair was scrapped once Davis ran into legal troubles; he remains the subject of a civil lawsuit regarding an alleged domestic-violence incident in South Florida.

Paul, 12-1 (7 KOs), has since agreed to face former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua in a scheduled eight-round contest. Their sanctioned meeting will headline a Netflix card on December 19 from Kaseya Center, home to the NBA’s Miami Heat and the original hosting venue for Paul-Davis.

The recently announced undercard included most of the supporting cast from the November date, excluding Russell-Hiraoka. That fight fell out of the line-up once PBC – who represents Davis and Russell – was no longer involved with the event given Davis’ removal.

Russell became the second member of his famous fighting family to claim a major title with his dominant points victory over Jose Valenzuela, 14-3 (9 KOs), on March 1. The 28-year-old southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland won nearly every round on all three scorecards to claim the WBA junior-welterweight title. The fight served as the PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View co-feature to Davis’ 12-round, majority draw with Lamont Roach Jnr at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Guiding the 2016 Olympian on fight night was Gary Russell Jnr, Gary Antuanne’s older brother, who held the WBC featherweight title from 2015 to 2022.

The younger Russell’s title win came nine months after his lone career defeat. Russell dropped a 12-round decision to Alberto Puello in their vacant WBC junior-welterweight title fight in June in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hiraoka has been the mandatory challenger since a ninth-round knockout of Ismael Barroso, 25-5-2 (23 KOs), in September at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

The bout was part of a show headlined by his celebrated stablemate Naoya Inoue’s seventh-round stoppage of TJ Doheny in a defence of his undisputed junior-featherweight championship.

With the win, Hiraoka, also a 28-year-old southpaw, claimed his 10th consecutive knockout victory. He’s yet to be taken beyond the 11th round – a distance he was extended in an eventual knockout of his countryman Jin Sasaki, a recent welterweight-title challenger, in October 2021.

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Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Andy Hiraoka finds another date for WBA title fight

The Gary Antuanne Russell-Andy Hiraoka junior welterweight title fight is being planned for the first quarter of 2026, sources tell The Ring.

Russell-Hiraoka was set to take place Nov. 14 on the Jake Paul-Gervonta Davis undercard. Russell, like Davis, is with PBC. So when Paul went on to fight Joshua, a Matchroom boxer, Russell-Hiraoka needed a new home.

Russell, the younger brother of former titleholder Gary Russell Jr., won the title in March with a wide points victory over Jose Valenzuela in New York. That followed his first defeat, which came against Alberto Puello in 2024.

Russell, 29, is The Ring’s No. 5 boxer at 140 pounds. He fights out of Capitol Heights, Maryland.

Japan’s Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 10 junior welterweight. In his last fight, he stopped Ismael Barroso in Round 9 on September 2024.

[Evander]

Andy Hiraoka is in good shape moves well and boxes textbook at times, but so far he's limited in his output.
He needs to be more varied in how he goes about things.
Same time, Gary A Russell is rough around the edges in the boxing department and can be offkey.
But he's disciplined and well trained enough to be a problem for almost anyone at the weight.
Lean Russell

[Evander]

They have been trying to do this for how many months now

[Sendo Takeshi]

Andy will be out 1 1/2 years after his last fight.
Not great for your first ever title shot.

How come it takes them a year to make this mandatory fight happen?

[gilgamesh]

The Russell Family don't get in a hurry to do sh*t in Boxing

[Evander]

Word on the street says they have a date

[Ruthless-RKO]

Date confirmed

[Evander]

It would be interesting if Hiraoka could handle the overall hustle and bustle with a physical fighter such as Russell, because Andy has natural skill albeit limited in range.
If he could plug those gaps it might be closer.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Tonight!!

[handsofstone]

Wasn't a great fight, I had Russell ahead 115-112, not much to go on early on, Russell shading it with his work rate, used his lead right hook up close, got his head on Hiraoka's chest and banged away with both hands, Hiraoka wasn't doing much first half, round 7 he started to finally get to work, digging the body, sitting down on his punches, Russell was on the back foot more and relying on shoeshine flurries, Hiraoka lost a point in the 10th for low blows, it got a bit more exciting the last couple rounds, Russell deserved it, Hiraoka's slow start and deduction cost him

[gilgamesh]

Wasn't a great fight, I had Russell ahead 115-112, not much to go on early on, Russell shading it with his work rate, used his lead right hook up close, got his head on Hiraoka's chest and banged away with both hands, Hiraoka wasn't doing much first half, round 7 he started to finally get to work, digging the body, sitting down on his punches, Russell was on the back foot more and relying on shoeshine flurries, Hiraoka lost a point in the 10th for low blows, it got a bit more exciting the last couple rounds, Russell deserved it, Hiraoka's slow start and deduction cost him

I think Russell must be a right hander who fights out of the Southpaw stance because he thinks it's an advantage. I notice his offense is very right hand heavy, and his straight left is not particularly potent.

[Evander]

Thought it was a bit closer than the cards suggest.
If Hiraoka had stepped up his workrate during the first half of the fight he may have pulled it off.
Can't say Russell was overly impressive, he has a numbers of flaws he needs to iron out.