Gary Russell Jr. defends featherweight title at National Harbor

Gary Russell Jr. left no doubt regarding his intentions in the weeks approaching his World Boxing Council featherweight title defense Saturday night at the Theater at MGM National Harbor. It wouldn’t take long to humble mandatory challenger Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. while inflicting as much damage as possible. The outcome didn’t quite match the pre-fight bravado, but the Capitol Heights southpaw still managed to keep his belt with a 12-round unanimous decision. It was Russell’s fifth consecutive win but only the second over his past four that went the distance. “I was disappointed in my performance because I wasn’t planning on going the distance,” Russell (29-1, 17 knockouts) said. Two judges scored the fight 117-111, and a third had it 115-113. Hours before his fight Saturday, Russell accompanied younger brother Gary Antonio Russell to the ring for the bantamweight’s scheduled six-round undercard bout against Mexican journeyman Jonathan Lecona. Antonio Russell (11-0, nine KOs) won on a stoppage at 1:16 in Round 5 after twice knocking down Lecona (17-20, six KOs), once in the first and again in the fourth. Junior welterweight Gary Antuanne Russell (6-0, six KOs), another younger brother of Russell Jr., also fought on the undercard and made expeditious work of portly challenger Wilmer Rodriguez (9-3, seven KOs) with a first-round knockout at 2:54. “It’s my hometown, and I expect my hometown to be behind me and support me,” Antuanne Russell said. “This was a great experience here at MGM National Harbor. It was electric. It fills my heart to be able to excite my hometown fans and give something back to all of them.” Knowles hit a two-run home run for Navy (38-15), which scored three runs in the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate before sophomore reliever Logan Smith got the final out to earn the save. Game 2 of the best-of-three series is set for noon today at Navy. Game 3, if necessary, would follow at 3 p.m. MORE: Matt Codispoti hit a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning to lead Albany to a 3-2 win over host UMBC in the first game of a regularseason-ending doubleheader. Raven Beeman drove in two runs to lift the Retrievers (22-27, 12-11) to a 6-1 victory over the Great Danes (19-26, 9-14 America East) in Game 2. UMBC will be the No. 3 seed in the America East tournament, which begins Wednesday in Orono, Maine. ... Coppin State’s season ended with an 8-3, 10-inning loss to Bethune-Cookman (24-33) in the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament Saturday night in Daytona Beach, Fla. The North Division champion Eagles matched a program record with a 21-23-1overall mark to go with an18-4 record in MEAC play, surpassing their previous high of 13 conference wins.