THE entire 140lb division will have their eyes fixated on the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, this Saturday as it the venue hosts two super-lightweight world titles fights on the undercard of Gervonta Davis’ collision with Lamont Roach.
Alberto Puello defends his coveted WBC super-lightweight title against Sandor Martin before Jose Valenzuela, 14-2 (9 KOs), puts his WBA strap on the line against knockout artist Gary Antuanne Russell, 17-1 (17 KOs), in the chief support.
25-year-old Valenzuela upset fan-favourite Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to win the precious black and gold belt last year after a closely contested split decision victory on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s tussle with Israil Madrimov.
The champion won the belt in his first fight at 140lbs after moving up from lightweight and will make his first title defence this Saturday against dangerman Russell.
While campaigning at lightweight, ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela suffered back-to-back losses against Edwin De Los Santos and Chris Colbert. Still, before moving up to 140lbs, the Mexican-born southpaw got revenge on Colbert, stopping him in the sixth round of their rematch – a WBA title eliminator.
‘Rayo’ looks to make it three-straight wins on Saturday against Russell, who himself is hoping to bounce back from defeat last time out.
Russell went into his interim WBC title clash last year with Puello widely known as a wrecking ball in the super-lightweight division. However, the Capital Heights native couldn’t find the stoppage against the Dominican, ultimately losing the bout on the scorecards by split decision.
The American southpaw turned professional back in 2017 after representing the USA at the 2016 Olympics and has amassed a well-respected resume, knocking out former world champions such as Viktor Postol and Rances Barthelemy on the run-up to the loss against current WBC champion Puello.
Nevertheless, 28-year-old Russell has another chance at world championship glory this weekend in a bid to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Gary Russell Jr, who held the WBC featherweight crown from 2016-2020.
With ‘Rayo’ fighting for just the second time coming up from lightweight, it’s still unclear whether the punching power that he possessed at 135lbs has transitioned into a higher weight class, and against Russell, who has stopped every opponent he’s faced bar one, he may look to box rather than stand and trade with the challenger.
Russell is naturally the bigger man and has just gone 12 rounds with Puello ,who is a southpaw, which seems like invaluable experience before taking on Valenzuela, who dons the left-handed stance. The last time Valenzuela fought a southpaw, he was knocked out in the third round by De Los Santos.
The Maryland boxer has also tasted defeat for the first time as a professional, so the pressure of losing his undefeated record isn’t there, and he now knows the feeling of going 12 rounds with a world-class operator like Puello.
Yet, Valenzuela has overcome the adversity of two straight defeats to become world champion, coming off a career-best performance against ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and has youth on his side against Russell.
Whatever the result, the landscape at 140lbs could totally change on Saturday night, ahead of a compelling 2025 for the division.
