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Once again, Gary Russell Jr is calling for a fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“I would love to get back in the game,” Russell said in a recent interview with The Boxing Source. “I hear ‘Tank’ don’t got an opponent yet. What’s up, Tank? They say he don’t got no opponent yet. I’m open to it.”
Russell is more than open to it, given that he’s mentioned Davis’ name for years.
In December 2020, Russell promised he would “spank that ass”.
In February 2021, he said he represented too much of a risk for Davis.
In July 2021, Russell said that a fight with Davis would sell more pay-per-views than Tank’s then-most recent fight, against Mario Barrios.
In January 2022, just days ahead of Russell’s last appearance in the ring, against Mark Magsayo, the DC-area native called for a fight with Davis — who hails from nearby Baltimore — and a rematch with Vasiliy Lomachenko.
It goes back even further, and it continues today.
“It’s never been personal or anything like that,” Russell told The Boxing Source. “I just think the sport – it’s been too small for both of us to co-exist and not at least come together to see what’d happen. For some weird reason he strayed away from it – him or his team.”
Russell has had more interviews talking about Davis in recent years than the former featherweight titleholder has had appearances in the ring.
Often criticized for taking just one fight per year — from 2015 into the pandemic-altered schedule of 2020 — Russell then spent nearly two years out of action between his win in February 2020 over Tugstsogt Nyambayar and then losing his WBC belt to Magsayo via majority decision in January 2022 (Russell’s father passed away in May 2022. One of Russell’s brothers passed away in 2022, and Gary Jr has helped raise that brother’s children).
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) hasn’t been a featherweight since 2014 – very early in his career – though he could conceivably move up given that he’s been at 126lbs since turning professional in 2009.
Davis is a former junior-lightweight titleholder and holds the WBA title at 135lbs. Davis is also one of the biggest superstars in the United States, so it’s little surprise that Russell has even more reason to call out Tank.
Davis last fought in June, when he stopped Frank Martin. He is expected to headline another pay-per-view before the end of 2024, though his opponent is yet to be announced.
Negotiations with Lomachenko didn’t produce an agreement; Lomachenko’s team said the Ukrainian is taking off the remainder of the year. Davis and Shakur Stevenson went in separate directions; a rematch with Isaac Cruz became less appealing once Cruz lost his title to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela in August.
“Y’all need somebody to fight,” Russell said. “I’m open to it.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.