Jose Valenzuela met Gary Antuanne Russell with the WBA super lightweight crown up for grabs in the lead-in to the main event, Tank Davis vs Lamont Roach, on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and on Prime PPV. It was all Russell, pretty much. He was too strong and accurate, save for a lil scare in the 12th, when Rayo came to life. The judges had the final say, however, and scored it for Russell, 119-109, 119-109, 120-108.
“And the new,” said Jimmy Lennon Jr, to a burst of applause from the punters in the sold-out arena.
Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs entering; age 25; living in Seattle, Washington) is from Mexico, while the 28-year-old Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) comes from DC/Maryland. In his last outing, he dropped an SD to Alberto Puello. Rayo had wins over Chris Colbert and Isaac Cruz leading in.
Russell, whose best wins are over Viktor Postol and Rances Barthelemy, looked a little bigger and more aggressive in this all-lefty tango, to start. Rayo was slick with counters, though, warning Russell not to be injudicious in the first. Rayo made him miss in the second to good effect. He ate a few to the body, though. These two were still getting to know each other through two—lots of whacks to the body from both in round three. Russell seemed more comfortable by the third; it showed in his legs and variety of attack.
Rayo On The Defensive Against G.A.R
Rayo looked on the defensive more and more by the fifth. Had the body hits already taken a toll? Russell looked locked in, confident that he had enough to get it done, and Rayo didn’t through seven. Rayo got caught on the ropes in the seventh. He needed something to turn the ship around.
Strong work from GAR in the ninth; the crowd loved the onslaught. How could Rayo change the arc of this? In the 11th, Russell looked too close, but he ate two counters while pressing, so he backed off a bit. Rayo buzzed Russell twice or three times in the 12th. Russell sought to end it, and the fans dug the effort as they banged to the end of the frame.
WBC Super Lightweight Crown On the Line
In the second of four televised scraps, Alberto Puello (23-0 with 10 KOs, entering from the Dominican Republic) took on Spain’s Sandor Martin (42-3 entering, with 15 KOs). The WBC super lightweight championship was up for grabs. Puello had won the interim version via SD against Gary Antuanne Russell on June 15, 2024.
It was a solid scrap, not frenetic but Martin did his thing, smart and savvy and consistent. After 12, the cards read: 115-113 for Martin…115-113 for Puello…116-112 for Puello. AND STILL! Judging by the boos, plenty thought the judges got it wrong, but many accepted the tallying. The stats: Martin went 162-441 to 150-526 for the winner. Martin had the edge in power shots, 131 to 83.
The 31-year-old Martin, who holds a win over Mikey Garcia in 2021, hadn’t fought in 442 days, for the record. Would rust be a factor in the lefty vs lefty clash? Martin, pressing forward, ate a counter with a minute left after being the better ring general to start the first. Body work from Martin stood out in the second. Round three had a few trades that jazzed the crowd.
Martin looked to be the aggressor, his work to the body and clever punch placement impressed the unofficial judge in me through five. The 30-year-old Puello perked up, maybe his corner said hey, you wanna title or not? In the sixth, he was more dialed in. Enough to take rounds? Not on my card so much.
The rounds took some pep from Martin, and the two were center-ring much of the time by round nine. Ah, but in round ten, Martin showed more zest, at least with his legs. Puello landed hard in the 11th, and the crowd responded, but he didn’t keep pressing. I liked Martin wide on the cards after the 12th.
Vet J-Roc Takes On Up-N-Comer
Julian Williams met Yoanis Tellez, aka El Bandolero, in a super welterweight clash to open the PPV portion of the Gervonta Davis v Lamont Roach Barclays Center Saturday night show, put together by PBC. After twelve, the cards read: 118-110, 117-111, 119-109, ultra wide for Tellez.
Tellez threw 180-502 to 106-399 for Williams, the former IBF 154-pound champ.
Williams(29-4-1, 17 KOs; from Philly), at 34, knows that he has more fights behind him than ahead. He went 2-3 in his last five, with a win over Gustavo Vittori on Jan. 12. Tellez is 24 and hadn’t tasted defeat—the Cuban fights out of Texas.
J Roc moved well in the first, but by the second round, Tellez was finding him more. Some swelling was seen under J Roc’s right eye. Both went to the body in the third, with Tellez opening a nick on the left lid. J Roc kept moving, mostly to his right, and was seen lunging and missing awkwardly in the fourth. In press row, Tom Hauser and Gerry Cooney were discussing how Julian was hanging in there through six.
The pace suited the older man, who had some moments in the eighth. By the ninth, though, we saw more lumping on J Roc’s face. “Stop runnin’, bro,” someone called out to Williams. Ryan Songalia of RING pointed out that he thought maybe Tellez wasn’t being busier because he was conserving energy, this being his first twelve-rounder. Williams worked mostly in retreat, seeking to avoid contact more than cause it. He looked to survive more than thrive, pretty much. We went to the cards.
“I don’t know what was missing,” J Roc said after. “I’ll have to look at the tape. In the end, I hope that the fans got to enjoy a great fight.”
Adios Hurd
Jarret Hurd, age 34, took an SD L versus Johan Gonzalez and said in the ring after the middleweight battle that he would follow his promise and retire if he lost. His record stands 25-4-1. The 33-year-old Venezuelan rose his record to 36-4. Gonzalez had the edge 226-674 to 141 of 478 for Hurd, the classy pugilist, in punches thrown/landed.
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