Gary Antuanne Russell Wins WBA Title from Jose Valenzuela
Sadly for him, WBA super lightweight champion Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KO’s) was roughed up, abused and outclassed in his first title defense. As a result, Rayo suffered his third professional defeat and surrendered his belt to Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KO’s) by way of unanimous decision.
Right from the start, Russell never allowed Valenzuela into the match. He accomplished this by setting a ferociously high pace, launching near-constant volume, and buoyed beautifully between crowding his opponents space and peppering the champ from range. For the first half of the contest, Rayo fought in a fog and had no substantial answers or adjustments.
Valenzuela landed potshots here and there. However, the champ didn’t turn in much worth reporting.
Even worse, throughout the ninth and tenth rounds, Rayo was hammered especially hard. Little to nothing changed in his favor during the final two periods. Unsurprisingly, Russell won the duel on the scorecards. He prevailed by way of unanimous decision to the tune of 119-109 (twice) and 120-108.
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