Gary Antuanne Russell’s WBA junior welterweight title defense against Andy Hiraoka has landed on the undercard of Ryan Garcia challenging WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on February 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Russell-Hiraoka was originally slated for the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis but had to be rescheduled when the fight was cancelled after Davis’ recent legal troubles. Paul went on to face Anthony Joshua in December, but Russell-Hiraoka was not part of the rescheduled card.
Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) will make his first title defense after beating Jose Valenzuela for the title in March. Fighting out of Japan, Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs) last fought in Sept. 2024 when he stopped Ismael Barroso in the 9th round.
