Gary Antonio Russell Beats Rudolph Hedge
Washington D.C. bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell (7–0, 5 KOs) (above right) impressed in his national TV debut on Tuesday night, winning a dominant unanimous decision over Rudolph Hedge (10–4–3, 4 KOs) of Kingston, Jamaica at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Fox Sports 1.
Russell displayed hand speed reminiscent of his older brother, featherweight contender Gary Russell, Jr., (above middle) while landing blistering combinations throughout the fight. The 2013 National Golden Gloves Champion won by scores of 60–54 and 59–55 (x2) and kept his unblemished record intact.
Russell rendered Hedge’s nose sideways in the opening round with his jab, and landed some strong body punches to boot. Hedge was the first opponent with a winning record that Russell has faced and proved his mettle, fighting toe-to-toe in the pocket and landing a number of sneaky overhand rights on the inside that bloodied Russell’s nose. Still, Russell was able to grind those rounds out with his much higher work rate.
Russell went back to using his jab in the fourth round, keeping Hedge on the outside and too far to land his right hand. Russell landed a flurry in the final thirty seconds of the round that had Hedge in some trouble. Russell had more success with his jab in the fifth. The converted southpaw finally threw a straight left behind his jab and stunned Hedge.
Russell then dug two right hooks to Hedge’s body that had him reeling. He followed it up with a brutal barrage of punches but a very game Hedge stood up to it and fired some shots back of his own to make it to the bell.
In the sixth and final round, Russell looked to make a statement in his first TV bout and finish off his weary opponent. He came out walking Hedge down and landing vicious combinations to the body. He stunned Hedge with an uppercut to his badly-damaged nose and another straight left hand, but was unable to score the knockout. Nonetheless, Russell got the win and made a solid debut on national TV. We’re sure he’ll be back before long.