Gary Russell Jr. KOs Patrick Hyland in second round to retain WBC featherweight title
It didn't take WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. long to assert his dominance Saturday night against Ireland's Patrick Hyland Jr. at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Conn..
Four minutes and 33 seconds to be exact.
Russell, using his notoriously blazing hand speed, dropped Hyland three times in the second round, the first times Hyland has been down in his career. The first two came on right hooks. By the time the third knockdown came, referee Danny Schiavone had seen enough and stopped the fight at 1:33 of the second round.
Hyland fell to 31-2 with 15 KOs.
Russell, showing no ring rust from a 13-month layoff, outlanded Hyland for the few minutes they fought, 42-5, and landed a staggering 74% of his power punches, (28 of 38). He improved to 27-1 with 16 KOs.
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Hyland, whose trainer-father took his own life a year ago, came in with a heavy heart and was hoping to catch Russell by surprise, but there were no surprises on this night.
"We put the work in in the gym. We worked hard. and I got cursed out almost ever day by my dad," Russell said. "I feel like I'm the worst fighter sometimes leaving the gym. But we're our worst critics. We pushed ourselves to the limit and that's why we got the victory tonight."
Russell said he had prepared to go the full 12 rounds.
"You never know what to expect in a fight like this," he said. "We prepared for the duration, long and hard if we had to, and we executed a level of defense and discipline, we stuck to the game plan, we stayed sharp, stayed behind the jab, kept him at bay and we capitalized on his mistakes."
Russell made it known that he wanted to avenge his only career loss to Vasyl Lomachenko, who has moved up in weight since defeating Russell by majority decision nearly two years ago.
"Please, if you're watching this fight Lomachenko, you got to see me. It's going down," Russell said. "I don't care if he moves up to 147 pounds. I will follow him to that weight to get that fight."
More likely, however, is possible fights against England's IBF featherweight champ Lee Selby or WBA titlist Leo Santa Cruz.
"We would love to get the fight against Lee Selby and unify the titles and we would also like to face Leo Santa Cruz," Russell said, but made it clear that Lomachenko is directly in his crosshairs.
(Photo of Gary Russell Jr. against Patrick Hyland by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)