It was "Mr. Gary Russell Jr. Day," which comes around once a year when the WBC featherweight champion surfaces for a title defense.
This time, Russell (31-1, 18 KOs) notched his fifth consecutive defense of the 126-pound title when he defeated Tugstsogt Nyambayar by unanimous decision in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader on Saturday night at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa.
Russell — who has had a bad habit of fighting only once per year for the past half-decade — notched another sound victory with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. Afterward, he again suggested that he might gift boxing fans with his presence one more time before 2020 comes to a close. His next fight may come in a different weight class, however.
"If we have to move up in weight for these top fighters to feel like they have an advantage and take the fight, then we'll do it," Russell said. He has been pursuing a fight with junior lightweight champion Leo Santa Cruz or the opportunity to avenge the only loss of his professional career against Vasiliy Lomachenko. Aside from a unification fight with IBF titlist Josh Warrington or WBO champion Shakur Stevenson, there are few big fights for Russell at featherweight, and with the 135-pound division boasting the likes of Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, it may make sense for Russell to take his shot two weight classes higher.
On this night, though, it was all about Russell and his extraordinarily fast hands getting the job done against the 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Mongolia. Nyambayar (11-1, nine KOs) struggled to get anything going in the early rounds and had to deal with his opponent's exceptional defense to go with that hand speed.
Nyambayar refused to give up, however, and pursued Russell in an effort to goad him into a firefight. Unfortunately for him, Russell was too slick and sharp to get dragged into an area where Nyambayar could have some success. Ultimately, Russell's seasoning made the difference. The 31-year-old champion used his experience to overwhelm his challenger and put him too far back on the scorecards to catch up.
Hopefully, we'll get to see Russell once more this year.