Gary Russell Jr fires back at Tim Bradley and clarifies desire for Gary Antuanne vs Shakur Stevenson

Shakur Stevenson’s next fight remains uncertain, with Dana White saying there’s no truth to rumours of a fight with Manny Pacquiao. Various options have been mentioned for the unbeaten WBO and Ring super lightweight champion. One option to emerge is the WBA champion Gary Antuanne Russell, with his brother Gary Russell Jr taking to social media and clarifying negotiations and the desire to make the intriguing unification bout.

Shakur Stevenson: What could be next for the unbeaten champion

The rumours regarding Stevenson vs Pacquiao were not met fondly on social media by boxing fans, and when asked at the Zuffa Boxing 11 post-fight presser about the recent rumours regarding that potential fight, Dana White said: “Yeah, that’s not true. I don’t know where that came from.”

Dan Rafael has recently reported via his X account that Zuffa Boxing has contacted PBC to make an offer for Gary Antuanne Russell (19-1, 17 KOs) to face Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) in a WBA/WBO super lightweight unification bout.

This is a fight that makes more sense than most for Shakur. It’s an opportunity to face one of the best fighters in the division, and potentially unify at super lightweight. Stevenson was brilliant at the beginning of the year, defeating Teofimo Lopez, and since signing with Zuffa, it feels like the year has ground to a halt for him.

Stevenson vs Gary Antuanne: Rumours addressed by Gary Russell Jr

“Shakur pops up stating that he wants to unify and make a fight, etc. I believe Shakur really do wanna make a fight. But I question if the people around him or his team really wanna make a fight happen, because the numbers don’t reflect that. 

“I also wanna address Tim Bradley. Get your facts straight before you just start saying stuff, because you just be saying s**t, and you are food poisoning the fans. You’re giving allegorical statements; that’s not actually true. It was never a $2 million purse, just FYI for everybody. They never mentioned $2 million. Real men don’t even speak figures, but that wasn’t the number. 

“And for Tim Bradley to even say something like that…you used to be a fighter, and I’m pretty sure when you competed against Pacquiao, etc., you did negotiations to get the best possible deal for yourself, and if you didn’t, you were stupid. I don’t believe that you didn’t.

“So don’t do that to these younger fighters; that’s trying to just get their just due when they’re competing in this sport and putting their best foot forward to try and entertain these fans and do what the f**k they love to do. So don’t do that, that’s goofy as f**k, and that was wrong information,” said Gary Russell Jr.

“We are as adamant as a m*********** about trying to make this fight happen,” added Russell Jr.

Featured Image Credit:

Amanda Westoctt- Showtime