Gary Russell Jr. has great hand speed, and that great hand speed was on full display on Saturday night against Joseph Diaz Jr.  Russell retained his WBC featherweight title as he beat Diaz by unanimous decision at MGM National Harbor in Maryland.

For Diaz, Russell presented many problems, but it was Russell’s hand speed that gave Diaz the most problems.

“He’s probably the fastest fighter I’ve seen,” Diaz(26-1, 14 KOs) said after suffering his first loss.

Diaz did some great work to the body, but Russell took over the second half of the fight. The final scorecards were 115-113, 117-111, and 117-111 all for Russell. Goforitradio.com scored the bout 117-11 for Russell.

Listen below as Diaz talks about Russell’s speed, what went wrong, and more:

Photo: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME

WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. looked very impressive as he beat Joseph Diaz Jr. by unanimous decision at MGM National Harbor in Maryland on Saturday night.

Now, Russell wants to unify the division. One way to do that is by fighting the winner of the Santa Cruz-Mares 2 fight in June.

If he does not unify, Russell has other plans:

“If we can’t get unification, we moving up in weight,” Russell said after the fight.

Russell is with Al Haymon, and so is Mares and Santa Cruz, so maybe he can get that fight next. If not, he is going for the best at 130.

Listen below as Russell talks about his performance against Diaz, his future, and more:

 

Photo: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME