{"id":332947,"date":"2025-12-24T07:51:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T07:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/332947\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T07:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T07:51:05","slug":"gary-russell-says-hitchins-is-avoiding-antuanne-unification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/332947\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Russell Says Hitchins Is Avoiding Antuanne Unification"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Amateur History Resurfaces<\/p>\n<p>According to Gary Russell, that history is the reason the matchup has stalled.<\/p>\n<p>Russell accused Hitchins of being \u201cscared\u201d to fight his brother, pointing to their amateur record as evidence. Antuanne Russell defeated Hitchins four times before they turned professional, a stretch that Gary believes still looms over the discussion of a potential unification.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone beat me four times, I\u2019m trying to see you again,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI need that back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitchins has instead focused his attention on higher-profile names. He has openly discussed his interest in bouts against fighters such as Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez, matchups that would bring greater exposure and financial upside. While those fights remain speculative, Russell suggested that Hitchins has been selective about which risks he is willing to take.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s scared,\u201d Russell said in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3q54f_OI-_A\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MillCity Boxing<\/a>, when asked about Hitchins\u2019 lack of interest in facing Antuanne. When questioned directly about whether that amounted to ducking, Russell did not hesitate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know what\u2019s up with our DNA over here,\u201d he said. \u201cMy little brother beat him four times in the amateurs. If someone beat me four times, I\u2019m trying to get one of them back. You\u2019re not going to get a whole glove on me. I need at least one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What a Win Would Settle<\/p>\n<p>From a competitive standpoint, Antuanne Russell represents one of the most demanding options available at 140 pounds. He is a reigning champion with an aggressive style and familiarity with Hitchins that few others in the division share. A victory would settle long-standing questions and solidify Hitchins\u2019 position among the division\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the situation remains unchanged. Hitchins continues to speak about marquee opportunities, while the unification with Antuanne Russell remains unresolved. As long as that gap persists, criticism from the Russell camp is unlikely to fade.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Reynolds is a boxing analyst covering major fights and career turning points, with a focus on performance, trajectory, and long-term implications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amateur History Resurfaces According to Gary Russell, that history is the reason the matchup has stalled. Russell accused&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-332947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}