Russell Jr. looks fast in beating Miranda, but lacks power

By Boxing News - 09/04/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated featherweight contender Gary Russell Jr. (18-0, 10 Ko’s) easily beat Leonilo Miranda by a one-sided eight round unanimous decision last Saturday night on the undercard of the Andre Berto vs. Jan Zaveck fight at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Russell Jr, looked very fast with his blazing hand speed, nailing the limited Miranda with a lot of multiple combinations in dominating the fight.

However, Russell Jr. showed some noticeable flaws in his game that I feel will keep him from capturing a world title unless he’s pitted against one of the paper champions. Russell Jr, lacks power in a big way, and that’s going to be a major disadvantage for him as he slowly works his way up against better opposition in the future.

Against 2nd tier opposition like Miranda, it doesn’t matter. Russell Jr. can beat these guys just by throwing fast shots, because they’re so overmatched against that it’s not even funny. But against guys that can punch hard like Juan Manuel Lopez, Orlando Salido and Yuriorkis Gamboa, Russell Jr. is going to be for a world of hurt when he gets to their level one of these days.

I don’t expect his handlers to put him in with those guys this year or probably not even next year, because I think he’s going to continue to be spoon fed soft opponents to pad his record and wait for some of those guys to either age enough for Russell Jr. to stand a better chance against them or clear out from the division.

Against guys like Lopez and Gamboa, Russell Jr. will likely never be able to beat them. They hit too hard and with his weak shots, he’d not be able to keep them off of him. He’s a good HBO fighter against weak opposition, but him in with Lopez, Salido and Gamboa, and you’d see Russell Jr. badly exposed.

My guess he’ll be kept away from them until they either age another three years or they leave the division. It would be madness to put a weak puncher like Russell Jr. in with any of those guys for the next three years.

I don’t think Russell Jr. will be able to beat them at that time either, but you’ve got to take the training wheels off of Russell Jr. at some point. He’s 23 now, and by 26 or 27, he’s going to be about as ready as he ever will be to fight solid fighters. If he’s still not put in with them at that point, then it’s a clear sign that his handlers have doubts about his chin and/or power.



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