RUSSELL DEFENDS WBC TITLE AGAINST INTERIM BELT HOLDER ESCANDON

By WBCnews

World Boxing Council featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. (27-1, 16 KOs) will return to the ring on February 18 to defend his title against Interim champion Oscar Escandon (25-2, 17 KO’s) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This will be Russell Jr’s second defense of the title he won two years ago with a fourth-round knockout victory over former champion Jhonny Gonzalez in March 2015.

Russell Jr. defend the belt for the first by defeating  Patrick Hyland of Ireland with a second-round knockout in April last year.

“I hope to defeat Escandon without a problem. I plan to unify titles and I want to do it soon,” said Russell Jr. recently at the WBC convention in Florida.

Russell Jr. has won his last three fights, since losing to Vasyl Lomachenko by decision in 2014. Lomachenko was able to nullify  Russell Jr. for 12 rounds. Since then, he has beaten Christopher Martin, Jhonny Gonzalez and Patrick Hyland.

Escandon won the WBC interim title last year in March by defeating Mexican Robinson Castellanos with a 7-round knockout in Washington, DC. Prior to that, Escandón was defeated twice, by Moises Flores with a 12-round decision in April 2015, and by Nehomar Cermeño with  a 12-round split decision in August 2013.