Maryland’s Russells keep it all in fight family
Through the sweltering 95-degree heat inside a cramped Enigma Boxing Gym tucked away in a small industrial park in this Washington, D.C., suburb, you can spot a Russell in every corner.
There’s Gary Jr., 28, the oldest of the burgeoning boxing dynasty and currently the family’s representative world champion, with his lightning-fast hands, pounding the mitts in the ring held by his brother Gary Allan, a boxer-turned-cornerman. Gary Antonio, 24, is smacking the heavy bag. And 20-year-old Gary Antuanne pounds away at a huge truck tire with a sledgehammer.
The head honcho and family patriarch, Gary Sr., who trains his sons — yep, all six are named Gary — is preparing his trio of boxers for one of his family’s biggest moments in the sport.
Saturday night, about 14 miles down the I-495 beltway at the new MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., the Russells will celebrate Gary Sr.’s birthday and 31st wedding anniversary and Gary Jr.’s first fight in his hometown.
They’re hoping to do it with three victories, including Gary Jr.’s WBC featherweight title defense against Colombian challenger Oscar Escandon on national television (Showtime, 6 p.m. ET). Antonio (7-0, 5 KOs) will try to stay unbeaten, and Antuanne makes his professional debut. Another Maryland fighter close to the Russells, 22-year-old junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (17-0, 16 KOs), from Baltimore, puts his IBF belt on the line vs. Liam Walsh in London, opening Showtime’s split-venue show.
“It’s going to be history in the making,” said Gary Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs), who says he did not want to fight in his hometown until he was a champion. “We’re in familiar territory with making history. We were the first set of four brothers to win the National Golden Gloves, and I don’t see anyone breaking our record anytime soon. I believe in a dynasty, and I’m excited for my dad to see all of his hard work come together on fight night.”
Fight night was supposed to happen March 11, with the hometown Russells inaugurating the MGM for boxing, but a back injury suffered by Escandon postponed the fight.
As fate would have it, a month later, the first boxing event to christen the building was headlined by Vasyl Lomachenko, the Ukrainian two-division champion who three years earlier had defeated Gary Jr. by majority decision in a close fight. To this day, it’s the only professional loss suffered by one of the brothers.
“I was disappointed that everything got backed up,” Gary Sr. said. “Then they brought in Lomachenko, and I’m like, ‘Oh, no, they didn’t bring him in our backyard.’ We took a loss to this kid. I couldn’t believe it. But we’ve just got to roll on with it.”
Conspicuous by its absence inside the Enigma Gym is any hint of trash talk. All three fighting Russells are exceedingly polite, well-spoken and, above all, respectful of everyone.
And they’re accomplished. Gary Jr. and Antuanne are former Olympians. Antuanne was the valedictorian of his class at Croom Vocational High School in Prince George’s County and had the highest GPA in the county during his senior year. He turned down a scholarship to the Univer- sity of Maryland to qualify for the Rio Olympics, where he won his first two bouts, then lost in what Gary Sr. called a robbery.
It’s family first always for the Russells. Antuanne is careful not to forget one of the most important people in his life. “It’s amazing what my dad did, but you can’t forget about my mom,” he says of Lawan Russell. “Behind every king is a strong queen. My mom is the most important woman in my life. Other than that, it’s tunnel vision, in school, in the gym or anything else in my life.”
That tunnel vision is fixated on his boxing career, centered around his mentor and role model. “Gary Jr. is my vision. I needed a role model, and there he is,” Antuanne says, pointing to his brother. “I needed someone to keep me humble and keep me out of trouble.”
Antonio echoes Antuanne’s sentiments. “I watch everything that my older brother does and I learn from his mistakes,” he said. “He makes sure that I don’t make those same mistakes. He critiques me every way, through life and in the gym.”
To be sure, there’s more to the Russells than boxing. “Me and my whole family talk a lot and about everything. Not just about boxing,” Antuanne says. “Boxing is what I do, but it’s not who I am. ... Don’t just look at me as a jock.”
Antuanne sums up the Russell family goals like a valedictorian speaking to his graduating class.
“We’re looking to build a dynasty, and I believe that May 20 will be a memento to our dynasty building,” he says. “I hope I’m at the championship level in the next five years.
“We’re going to run this thing correctly.”