Gary Antuanne Russell is already on to the next one.

It wasn’t by choice that the newly crowned WBA junior welterweight titlist cut short his victory lap. A sanctioning body ruling has required Russell to next face mandatory challenger Andy Hiraoka.

A 30-day negotiation period was formally assigned on Tuesday, giving the two sides until May 21 to reach a deal. A purse bid hearing will be assigned in the event they can’t come to terms.

“Per Championship Rule C.10, a titleholder must defend the belt against the next available contender within 120 days of claiming the title,” the WBA declared in a ruling made public Tuesday. “For Russell, who captured the crown on March 1, the deadline to fulfill his mandatory obligation is July 1 of this year.

“Should the parties fail to reach an agreement within the designated negotiation period – or if either side refuses to participate – the WBA reserves the right to call a purse bid.”

Russell fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner and is represented in talks by TGB Promotions. Hiraoka is a proud member of the Ohashi Boxing Gym in his hometown of Yokohama, Japan. Among his gym mates is four-division champ and pound-for-pound entrant Naoya Inoue, 29-0 (26 KOs).

Russell, 18-1 (17 KOs), became the second member of his famous fighting family to claim a major title with his dominant March 1 points victory over Jose Valenzuela, 14-3 (9 KOs). A 28-year-old southpaw from Capitol Heights, Maryland, Russell won nearly every round on all three scorecards to claim the WBA junior welterweight title. The fight served as the PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View co-feature to the Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Lamont Roach Jnr WBA lightweight title fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Guiding Gary Antuanne Russell, a 2016 Olympian, on fight night was Gary Russell Jnr, Gary Antuanne’s older brother who held the WBC featherweight title from 2015-2022.

The younger Russell’s title win came nine months after his lone career defeat. Russell dropped a 12-round decision to Alberto Puello in their vacant WBC junior welterweight title fight last June 15 in Las Vegas.

Hiraoka, 24-0 (19 KOs), has been the mandatory challenger since a ninth-round knockout of Ismael “Abuelo” Barroso, 25-5-2 (23 KOs), last September 3 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The bout was part of a show headlined by Inoue’s seventh-round stoppage of TJ Doheny to successfully defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship. 

With the win, Hiraoka – also a 28-year-old southpaw – extended his current 10-fight knockout streak. Five of his bouts have been scheduled for 12 rounds, though Hiraoka has yet to be extended beyond the 11th round. Even that has happened only once, in an October 2021 knockout of countryman Jin Sasaki, now the mandatory challenger to WBO welterweight titlist Brian Norman Jnr.

Russell has never fought outside the US through eight years as a pro. Hiraoka has made all but two bouts in his native Japan; the other two took place in Las Vegas on shows promoted by Top Rank.

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.