Gary Russell Jr wants Devin Haney rematch to be on his terms

By Boxing News - 09/10/2020 - Comments

By Max Seitelman: The highly entertaining Gary Russell Jr has acknowledged that he’s received the from WBC 135-pound champion Devin Haney and his father Bill for a fight.

Russell (31-1, 18 KOs) states that he’s going over the “particular,” specifically the rematch clause. He wants to make sure that if he beats Haney, the rematch will be under his terms, which would involve choosing the network.

As of now, Russell, 32, will be challenging the 21-year-old Haney for his WBC lightweight title in a fight that will be shown on DAZN. That’s the platform that Haney fights on right now.

There won’t be a problem for Haney unless he loses, and he’s going to have a considerable advantage in size over Russell Jr. Gary will be moving up nine pounds from 126 to 135 to challenge Haney.

It’s not so much the weight that will give Russell problems. It’s more about the height and reach of the 5’8″ Haney. He’s a lot taller than the 5’4 1/2″ Russell, and that could be the deciding factor in the fight.

Image: Gary Russell Jr wants Devin Haney rematch to be on his terms

Haney has mostly fought second-tier opposition during his five-year pro career, and he may not be ready to face a quality fighter like Russell.

Gary Russell Jr working on particulars

“I saw your interview, Devin. Ain’t nobody capping, Shorty,” said Russell Jr on social media. “You better get your s*** together. You see me here grinding. This s*** is real. I’m not playing. Ain’t no capping going on.

“We’re just getting everything situated on our end. To the fans and the people that want to know, they definitely did send the contract over. We’re just putting the particulars that we want just based on the fact that if I beat his little a**, the rematch is on our terms, whatever network I decide.

“We’re just getting the particulars ready. All that s*** about somebody capping. Ain’t nobody capping. We’re in this mother-f**** grinding. This s*** is real. You’re going to get your little a** scorched, and you don’t even know it,” said Russell.

Devin went into a long spiel on Wednesday about how he thinks Russell Jr is “capping” and not serious about wanting to fight him. Haney worked himself up to the point where he seemed generally angry just based on his fear-based attitude about the fight.

Haney’s dad/trainer, Bill Haney, continually tried to calm him down and reassure him that the fight with Russell Jr will likely happen.

His words didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the worried Haney, who continued to rant about his concerns of Russell just playing games with him. It’s good that Russell spoke up today on social media because that might calm Haney down a little and make him worry a little less.

Image: Gary Russell Jr wants Devin Haney rematch to be on his terms

Russell warns Devin: You bit off more than you can chew

“You don’t even know it, Shorty. You bit off more than you can swallow. This s*** is about to get real ugly real soon,” continued Russell Jr to Haney. ‘We in this b***. To all my real fans, you know what it is. This s*** is really going down.

“Stop playing, Devin. I’m going to spank your little a**. I take my hat off to you because you’re 21-years-old, and you got more heart than some of these other suckers out there. I’m about to make an example out your little a**,” said Gary.

The other top featherweights have avoided Russell Jr for years, and he’s reached a point where he’s desperate for a fight. Hence, he’s moving up two weight classes to challenge Haney at lightweight. It’s doubtful that Russell Jr would consider making a move like this if he’d been getting fights all along against the marquee fighters in the 126-lb division.

One guy that Russell has wanted to fight for years is Leo Santa Cruz. Russell called Leo out for ages, even approaching his dad to try and put a fight together. But nothing worked for Russell, and Santa Cruz has since moved up to 130 without fighting him.

It was surprising that Leo still didn’t fight Russell after he used him as a prop to call him out. You can argue that most fighters would have been angry enough to fight Russell Jr if he did that to one of their family members, but Santa Cruz still didn’t pull the trigger on the fight.

Other fighters like Carl Frampton, Josh Warrington, and Jessie Magdaleno never looked Russell’s way. That’s why he’s at the end of his rope, and now moving up to 135 to take on a bigger, younger fighter in Haney.

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Gary hopes Mayweather trains Haney

“You’re about to get yourself into something that you don’t know what the f*** that you got yourself into,” Russell Jr continued. “Yeah, it’s happening. It’s going down. I hope y’all ready.

“I hope Floyd [Mayweather] is training you for this, young son because when I beat your a**, it’s going to be like I’m beating Floyd’s a** too since he didn’t want to give me Tank [Davis]. Yeah, that’s how I’m going,” said Russell Jr.

If Russell does beat Haney, it’s going to have an impact on Mayweather because he’s taken the young Devin under his wing to try and mold him. Russell Jr says he couldn’t get a fight against Mayweather Promotions fighter Gervonta’ Tank’ Davis.

So if Russell can dethrone Haney, he would be scoring points against Mayweather. It’s entirely possible that if Russell beats Haney, Mayweather will give Tank the green light to face him in a revenge match.

Image: Gary Russell Jr wants Devin Haney rematch to be on his terms

There would be a tremendous amount of fan interest in a Tank Davis vs. Russell Jr. However, for that match-up to be made, Russell will need to beat Haney twice because he has a rematch clause in the contract.

Before Russell Jr got the Haney fight, he was trying to set up a match against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, but that idea went nowhere.

Crawford never appeared to consider fighting Russell, which is understandable seriously. Crawford wouldn’t receive credit for beating Russell, and if he lost, it would be a disaster for his career.

 

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