PBC’s June 15th Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin/David Benavidez vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk show appears to be expanding. Salvador Rodriguez announced yesterday that Carlos Adames would make his inaugural WBC middleweight title defense against Terrell Gausha, while Frases de Boxeo’s Héctor Guzmán told Julius Julianis today that former WBA super lightweight champion Alberto Puello will battle Gary Antuanne Russell.
It’s fitting that, having had a rare spasm of respectability when they finally stripped Jermall Charlo and elevated Adames (23-1, 18 KO), the WBC would immediately return to their bogus status quo. Career super welterweight Gausha (24-3-1, 12 KO) hasn’t fought since edging out KeAndrae Leatherwood slightly above the middleweight limit last November, but magically went from outside the top 15 at 154 to no. 10 at 160 in the WBC’s latest rankings.
It’s pathetic, frankly, but I suppose Adames needs to get in the ring one way or another.
Much more interesting is Puello (22-0, 10 KO) against Russell (17-0, 17 KO). Puello was stripped of his title after failing a drug test in 2022, but got a light sentence after demonstrating that he’d been taking a virility drug and returned to action last December. He beat a very capable pressure fighter in Batyr Akhmedov for the belt, making him a solid opponent for the skilled-but-scarce Russell.