Gary Russell Jr.

disagree with Hut/MWS/MTF

Russell has SOME affletix/boxbot bullshit going on, but there's some GOOD THINGS as well

His sense of distance, for one, is excellent, his ability to slip shots (particular slipping hooks in order to counter with his own) is anything BUT boxbot/affletix... He places his counters very well, be it the lead hook or the rear overhand.

With a little less shoeshining, more relaxed movement, he'll be outstanding and definitely a champ in this era

 

comparing him to Khan is fucking daft

 

I'll concede that my initial appraisal based on his highlight vid and the early parts of the Meza fight was overly harsh. I think I'll keep using the 'Murica Khan moniker anyway since it tickles me but he's not actually as shit as Khan. With some good sparring/coaching he could be good.

 

that's more like it, soldier

 

Yeah, I'm with cdogg. Russel Jr is cool so far.

 

Gary Russell, Jr. is the son of Gary Russell, Sr.

 

I agree he's better han Khan, not a pure boxbot. But still, 'Murica Khan.

Honestly I'll be surprised if he becomes an elite fighter. You've got the button mashing, the name, and the short arms.

 

Depends what elite means, innit. We're not many years removed from seeing Jermain Taylor's name on the lower half of p4p lists.

 

Little Gary has the Slice N Dice seal of approval.

 

Hurumph, you're right. Taylor is hardly my idea of an elite fighter.

 

*dun dun dun*

 

Russell, Jr. Will Be BETTER than Jermain Taylor, When it's All Said & Done....




REED:hammert:

 

He already looks more impressive than the skittish basketball player Taylor ever did

 

Agreed.

Though to be fair to Taylor, I don't know how he managed it, but he DID get the two wins over Hopkins (even if you didn't think he won, they were close fights), so he deserved a decent ranking on the p4p list at the time.

 

Agreed... No issue with his being placed there then... But he was one of the shittiest fighters I've seen get on that list

 

Yeah no doubt. He was a weird one, he really wasn't very good but he beat or gave some good/great fighters tough fights. It's worth remembering he was only seconds away from beating Froch too.

 

yeah, he got a lot out of basically being a big, athletic guy with poor skills and instincts

 

Taylor was definitely a weird one. Had far more success than a guy of his skill and talent level should have done.

 

Taylor wasn't really bad until he got punched in the jaw, though. To be fair.

He could've outpointed a lot of fighters until he got punched.

 

As Irish pointed out a couple weeks back, he had freakish farm boy strength.

 

Taylor should've been playing basketball or something. Very athletic, but delicate & 0 killer instinct. He couldn't finish a White Castle slider if you took two bites for him first.

 

plus the only things he learned to do reasonably well were throw a jab and clinch

his right hand was a wild haymaker that missed 90% of the time

 

Taylor was "Athletic" from the Waist UP...

ABOVE Average Handspeed was his Athletic Trait...Taylor's Footwork was PISS POOR, However...SLOW, DELIBERATE..."Athleticism" is about ALL AROUND Coordination, which Taylor LACKED...

Taylor's Wife Played in the WNBA & Surely Most of Ya'll Saw the Clip of them Playing 1 on 1...It was as if Taylor had NEVER Touched a Basketball in his Life...A 6'1 BROTHER from the Souf', who CAN'T Play a Decent Game of Basketball ISN'T "Athletic"...Sorry...

Jermain Taylor had SIZE, STRENGTH, HEART, Pretty Good HANDSPEED & Maximized the FUCK Out of it...Athleticism WAS NOT 1 of his Stronger Suits...




REED:hammert:

 

taylor was uncoordinated, robotic and not fluid at all. hardly what Id refer to as athletic.

 

I never saw the clip of him playing bball, his lack of talent there could easily be a result of just never having played (though it seems unlikely). His handspeed & jab were impressive, but maybe athletic isn't the right term. Whatever he was, he wasn't a fighter.

 

this

 

Don't know how he beat Hopkins to be honest.

Just rewatched the guy's fight and he was really sloppy.

Ultimately he seemed to punch hard and his unbridled aggression with his speed and unorthodox punching angles seemed to carry him until he got knocked out.

I think getting KO'd really ruined Taylor because what seemed to be his best attribute was fearlessly winging power shots at his opponents in high volume...and since he actually had pop he was hurting good defensive fighters. Once he got KO'd by Pavlik he basically tried to fight like a normal person instead of a maniac and was really bad.

 

the Abraham fight definitely seemed to be too soon for him to come back, he should have ducked out of that one.

Taylor's another one like Froch who I think's probably a little less technically inept than he looks for similar reasons I won't rehash. Also he sure seemed fast on the trigger at his best.....i don't know if we really have a word for that in boxing but we should invent one. 'Trigger speed?' 'Setting speed'?. It's the thing shot fighters lose

 

That was the problem. Taylor had farm boy strength.

BUT FROCH RUNS THE FARM!!!!

..."you got a real purdy jab, now get up in dem woods boy"

 

I very much agree with REED and Neil. At the time I was always a bit confused about Taylor being described as athletic. He has fairly quick hands and decent strength, but is pretty slow on his feet, not very good footwork, not very agile. And like they said, fairly robotic, not very loose and fluid.

I also disagree about farm boy strength. I never saw him effortlessly shoving guys around the ring, Duran style, or rendering them unconscious with 1 punch.

One thing that always stood oot tae me is what Hut said - he was always quick off the mark, very quick to react and throw a punch. It is trigger speed I guess.

I think the fact that he was big, not afraid to let his hands go, and had that weird jittery style led to his success. I honestly think the jittery, herky jerky style helped him against elite fighters, as quite simply it made him unpredictable and hard to get into a rhythm against.