By: Sean Crose
Invincible middleweight Gary Anutanne Russell, 15-0, stepped into the ring at Barclay’s Center on Saturday night to face 29-1-1 Rances Barthelemy veteran in a scheduled 10th round match. Russell started strong in the first round, but Barthelemy damaged his man in the last minute of the round. The second round is a high octane incident. Both men opened fire in the third round. The war was definitely near.
Russell pursued his man in the quarter. Barthelemy mainly fought in the retreat, but was able to take shots on his own first, showing how well an individual can function while making room for an opponent. The high-energy tempo continued into the fifth inning, which was a tough round to tell which of the two men had the better performance. A superb shot from Russell sent Barthelemy down in the sixth inning. Barthelemy got up, but the referee stopped the game…although Barthelemy said he was fine to continue.
