Gary Allen Russell Jr. (born June 5, 1988) is an American professional boxer who held the WBC featherweight title from 2015 to 2022.

Lomachenko defeated Russell Jr. via twelve-round majority decision to win the vacant WBO featherweight title.

[14] On January 15, 2015, rumors surfaced that the reigning WBC featherweight champion Jhonny González would make his third title defense against Russell Jr.[15] The title bout was officially announced as the event headliner of a Top Rank card held on March 28, 2015, at the Pearl Concert Theater in Paradise, Nevada.

He once again knocked González down early on in the fourth round, before forcing referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight with a flurry of unanswered punches.

Russell Jr. was rescheduled to face Patrick Hyland in his first title defense on April 16, 2016, thirteen months after winning the belt.

The title bout was booked as the event headliner of a card that took place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut, and was broadcast by Showtime in United States and Canal Space in Latin America.

Hyland was knocked down three times by the 1:33 minute mark of the second round, prompting referee Danny Schiavone to wave the fight off.

[23] Russell Jr. was expected to make his second WBC title defense against the interim featherweight champion Óscar Escandón on February 18 at the U.S Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He finally stopped Escandón with a right hook to the temple at the 0:59 minute mark of the seventh round, which left him unable to continue fighting.

[35] In March 2019, rumors surfaced that Russell Jr. would face the former IBF super-bantamweight champion Kiko Martínez in his fourth title defense.

[37] During a pre-fight interview, Russell Jr. claimed that he tried to arrange a title unification bout with either Carl Frampton or Leo Santa Cruz, which failed to pan out.

[40] The fight was booked as the event headliner of a February 8, 2020, Showtime card that took place at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

[46] The title bout was scheduled as the main event of a Showtime broadcast card, which took place at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 22, 2022.