APRIL 16 TRAINING CAMP NOTES:
GARY RUSSELL, PATRICK HYLAND,
JOSE PEDRAZA, STEPHEN SMITH
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® World Title Doubleheader
Live on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT) from
Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT
NYC (April 7, 2016) – The boxers who will be fighting Saturday, April 16 on aSHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® world title doubleheader are deep into
their respective training camps as they continue preparation for their bouts at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket,
CT.
In the main event, live on SHOWTIME® (11
p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT), the talented and speedy southpaw Gary Russell Jr. (26-1, 15 KOs) makes the first defense of his WBC
Featherweight World Title against Irish contender Patrick Hyland (31-1, 15 KOs). In the SHOWTIME co-feature,
unbeaten sniper Jose Pedraza (21-0, 12 KOs) risks his IBF 130-pound world title as
he defends his title for the second time against a mandatory challenger, Stephen Smith (23-1, 13 KOs).
Russell, who won the 126-pound title with
a fourth-round knockout over defending champion Jhonny Gonzalez on March 28, 2015, trains in Washington, D.C.
Hyland, whose only loss suffered was to
WBA Super Featherweight World ChampionJavier Fortuna, has been training
at a gym in Dublin, Ireland, owned and operated by his trainer, Paschal Collins, whose older
brother Steve was a former two-time WBO world
champion. Paschal Collins also boxed as a pro but is best known for being Irish
heavyweight Kevin McBride’s
head trainer during his shocking knockout of Mike
Tyson.
The switch-hitting Pedraza, a 2012 Puerto
Rican Olympian, has been working out in his native Puerto Rico. Smith, of Liverpool, England, has been training in the UK.
Below is what the confident boxers had to
say with less than two weeks to go before