Jose Valenzuela vs Gary Antuanne Russell Preview March 1st 2025
WBA Junior Welterweight Champion Jose Valenzuela of Mexico defends his belt for the first time this Saturday, March 1st when he takes on fellow southpaw Gary Antuanne Russell of Capitol Heights, Maryland. The 12-rounder from Brooklyn, New York is on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach tilt and can be seen live on pay-per-view in most nations. Valenzuela won the title in his last outing in August when he edged Isaac Cruz via a split decision. Russell last fought in June when he dropped a 12-round split decision to Alberto Puello for the Interim WBC Title. Valenzuela earned his shot against Cruz by stopping Chris Colbert in the sixth round in of a rematch in December, 2023. The pair first fought nine months earlier with Colbert winning a controversial 10-round unanimous decision by scores of 95-94 across the board.
Valenzuela vs Russell Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Gary Antuanne Russell -115
- Jose Valenzuela -115
My Pick
The 25-year-old Valenzuela makes the ring walk with a mark of 14-2 with 9 Ko’s and has fought just 73 rounds since making his pro debut in 2018. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 70-inch reach. He has decent power in his arsenal as 64.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, including eight of his past 10. Valenzuela made the boxing headlines when he stopped former world champion Francisco Vargas in just 85 seconds in April, 2022 for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Lightweight Title.
However, he was then stopped himself in the third round five months later by Edwin De Los Santos and lost the belt. He then dropped his second straight contest when Chris Colbert edged him in their first battle via a controversial 10-round unanimous decision. Valenzuela’s first 11 opponents were basically novices and journeymen as he kicked off his pro career and made his way up the lightweight ranks and he took the junior welterweight title from Cruz last year in his first fight in the weight division.
Russell is now 28 years old and is one of the fighting Russell brothers who are all named Gary. He owns a fine record of 17-1 with all 17 wins coming by way of stoppage for a 100 per cent knockout mark in his victories. That power means he has just 58 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career as he boxed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and lost in the quarterfinals in the light welterweight division. Russell stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a wingspan of 69 inches so is the same height as the champion but gives up just an inch in reach.
He’s gone past the sixth round just twice as a pro. The first time was against Viktor Postol in February, 2022 when he stopped him in the 10th round and he’s gone the distance just once, which was against Puello in his last outing. Russell has eight first-round knockouts, three in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth round. He took a step up in class against former world champions Postol and Rances Barthelemy and passed those tests impressively but struggled against Puello. He’s also beaten the likes of Wilmer Rodriguez, Marcos Mojica, Luis Leal, Juan Huertas and Jovanie Santiago.
Prediction…
Valenzuela and Russell both carry plenty of power and could change the course of a fight with just one punch but Russell has the decided edge in that department. Valenzuela used his huge height and reach advantage against Cruz to win the title while moving up in weight and looked quite impressive while Russell looked a little befuddled in his last fight. As the odds show, this could go either way if Valenzuela can match his performance against Cruz, but I’m leaning towards Russell here to bounce back and take the belt, possibly by a stoppage in the second half of the fight.
I’m leaning towards Russell’s power.
Play: Russell -115 @ BetOnline.ag
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Gary Antuanne Russell betting • Jose Valenzuela betting