Gary Russell Jr retains WBC belt with win over Joseph Diaz Jr

In one of the best fights MMA or Boxing over the weekend, Gary Russell Jr was able to keep his WBC Featherweight title by defeating Joseph Diaz jR by Decision. The final scores were 115-113 and 117-111 twice.  The fight was much more competitive than the score cards however.

Russell who is 29-1 used his jab and speed to keep the punch count up as Diaz tried to turnt he bout into a fight with strong work to the body.  Russell continued to use his movement to keep Diaz from being able to use too much offense staying behind his jab and counter the effective body work we saw Diaz utilize early.

Diaz 25, showed he could be able to enter into the world class realm of his weight class with a bit more experience.  Russell who is 29 years of age has had a bit more experience at this point however Diaz who was a 2012 olympian showed great potential. Both fighters showed great sportmanship throughout the fight, and it was a awesome performance for Showtime boxing.

Great fight @josephdiazjr! Congrats to Gary Russell Jr. on the UD.

Post fight with @OscarDeLaHoya #RussellDiaz #TeamDiazJr pic.twitter.com/OnMd3wWPuS

— Golden Boy Boxing (@GoldenBoyBoxing) May 20, 2018