Another Beltway world champion could be defending his title soon. According to The Ring, WBC Featherweight champion Gary Russell, Jr. of Capitol Heights, MD has verbally agreed to defend his title against his number one contender, undefeated Joseph "Jo Jo" Diaz, Jr. of Downey, CA.
The title bout could take place anytime between May 19th and June 30th. Promoters Golden Boy Promotions and Al Haymon also have to work out purse, network and location of the bout. The Ring reports that both HBO and Showtime are in the mix.
Russell (28-1, 17 KO's) last fought on May 20th and scored a seventh-round TKO over Oscar Escandon at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD. This was the second defense of Russell's title.
Diaz (26-0, 14 KO's) is the reigning NABF and NABO Featherweight titleholder. Diaz is coming off a third-round TKO victory over Victor Terrazas on February 22nd in Indio, CA. Like Russell, Diaz is an Olympian who represented the United States in London, England in 2012.
An interesting dynamic of this proposed bout is the activity of the two boxers. Since Russell suffered his only defeat to Vasyl Lomachenko in June of 2014, Russell has competed just four times. During that same time period, Diaz has been in the ring 16 times.
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