Gary Russell Jr will battle for the primary time in three-and-a-half years when he returns to motion on Saturday, July 19, dealing with Hugo Castaneda on the Pacquiao vs Barrios preliminary undercard on Prime Video.
Three fights are set for the prelim portion of the evening, forward of the four-fight pay-per-view invoice from Premier Boxing Champions.
Russell (31-2, 18 KO) hasn’t fought since a detailed loss to Mark Magsayo in January 2022. Having simply turned 37 a couple of month in the past, he’s breaking a protracted inactive streak — which by no means got here with an official retirement — to face Castaneda (15-2-1, 11 KO), a 23-year-old tremendous featherweight from Mexico who final fought on April 5, when he was dominated and stopped in 4 by Demler Zamora. On paper, it’s a secure matchup for Russell, however that’s plenty of time without work, too.
David Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KO) will tackle Japan’s Kyonosuke Kameda (15-4-2, 9 KO). The 24-year-old Picasso was meant to face Naoya Inoue at one level, however didn’t, and has had his final two fights as a featherweight. Kameda, 26, can also be a featherweight, so it seems to be like Picasso is simply staying in that division. The 26-year-old from Osaka final fought in February, stopped in seven by Luis Nery in Tijuana.
The aforementioned Magsayo (27-2, 18 KO) may also be again in motion, taking up Jorge Mata Cuellar (21-2-2, 13 KO) in what seems to be like, for what it’s price, the best-matched battle of the prelims. Magsayo, 30, misplaced to Rey Vargas and Brandon Figueroa in back-to-back fights after upsetting Russell in 2022, however has gained three straight after stepping the competitors again a bit. Cuellar, 24, has gained 5 in a row in 2024-25, not at excessive stage, however he’s rebounded a bit after dropping two of three in 2022-23.
Together with the 46-year-old Pacquiao returning to attempt to win the WBC welterweight title from Barrios in the primary occasion, the PPV undercard options Sebastian Fundora vs Tim Tszyu in a rematch for a 154 lb title, Pitbull Cruz taking up Angel Fierro in one other rematch, and Brandon Figueroa assembly Joet Gonzalez.
