Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Josh jibe at Russell $1m snub
JOSH WARRINGTON claims deluded Gary Russell
Junior thinks he is Floyd Mayweather Jnr after turning down $1million to fight him.
The WBC featherweight champion snubbed the offer from Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn, claiming the purse was “beneath my standards”.
But Warrington said Russell is not big box office and feels the American is trying to cash in.
“He’s unbelievable, I don’t know where he gets it from,” said the former IBF champion. “A lot of these American fighters seem to want humongous pay cheques when they’re not bringing anything to the table.
“I’ve said it before, they all want to be paid like
Floyd Mayweather, but they don’t have the same profile as Floyd Mayweather.
“I don’t think Gary
Russell Jnr is selling out arenas and selling thousands of tickets, he’s not the biggest of names.
“He knows he’s not got long left. He’s 32, he’s not a young fighter anymore so probably wants to cash in.”
Hearn is trying to find an opponent for Warrington after he has his first bout in 16 months against Mauricio Lara at Wembley Arena on Saturday.
The unbeaten Leeds fighter claimed a deal had been agreed with China’s WBA champion Xu Can before the pandemic hit.
He said: “We were originally scheduled to fight and then he pulled out for whatever reason, I’m still not to sure.
I think it was something about him worried about catching Covid over here.
“I thought that was laughable. He’s using it as an excuse when he’s not boxed for so long. You’d think he’d be itching to get back.
“But if I come through this one, Eddie is saying the fight could be made quite soon after.”