Gary Antuanne Russell respects Rances Barthelemy’s beef because a true warrior will always feel like he can continue.
Russell believes Barthelemy gave referee Shada Murdaugh little choice, however, but to stop their junior welterweight fight in the sixth round last July 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Cuban contender reached his feet quickly after Russell’s right hook dropped him, answered Murdaugh’s commands and seemed ready to keep fighting in a scheduled 10-rounder Showtime televised.
Murdaugh determined Barthelemy shouldn’t continue, however, and Russell won by technical knockout 50 seconds into the sixth round. Russell (16-0, 16 KOs), who will return to the ring Saturday night, commended Murdaugh’s judgment, despite Barthelemy’s belief that their fight was stopped too soon.
“If he would’ve continued, it would’ve got worse,” Russell told BoxingScene.com. “I think it was the right call. You know, us being gladiators, we gonna always want to have that ‘can do it’ mentality, ‘never back down, never quit’ mentality. You know, but it was the referee, he saw that his eyes wasn’t all the way straight. The referee told him, ‘Come here,’ he didn’t come here. He’s a veteran. He’s been around the block a couple times, so he knows certain moves to do, like stomp your feet.
“The referee says, ‘Come here,’ I’m gonna wait a little bit to come, just to move, so I can recuperate, just little things like that. But the referee saw it in his eyes, saw that he wasn’t all the way there, so he made the proper call. You know, he made sure that no damage was done to the fighter and I can respect that. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would just take it on the chin, that it was a good call, the best man won on this night.”
Barthelemy rocked Russell with a right cross that knocked Russell into the ropes with about 45 seconds to go in the opening round. Barthelemy later clipped Russell with a left hand that made Russell take an awkward step several seconds before the fourth round ended.
Russell connected with punishing punches prior to that fateful sixth-round knockdown, too. The strong southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland led on all three scorecards entering the sixth round (49-46, 49-46, 48-47).
The 27-year-old Russell, a 2016 Olympian, will fight Saturday night for the first time since he beat Barthelemy more than a year ago. His 10-round fight with St. Louis’ Kent Cruz (16-0-3, 10 KOs) was postponed from May 13 until Saturday night due to Russell’s thumb injury.
Showtime will air Russell-Cruz as the co-feature of a tripleheader from MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland (9 p.m. EDT). Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez (21-2, 13 KOs, 1 NC) and Nicaragua’s Melvin Lopez (29-1, 19 KOs) will fight for the vacant IBF bantamweight title in the 12-round main event.
Barthelemy beat Omar Juarez by majority decision May 13 in his own first fight following his loss to Russell. Judges Patricia Morse Jarman (98-92) and Dave Moretti (97-93) scored their 10-round fight for Barthelemy (30-2-1, 15 KOs, 1 NC), but judge Max De Luca credited Juarez (14-2, 5 KOs) for winning five rounds and scored their bout a draw, 95-95.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.