Gary Russell’s Former Conditioning Coach Lashes Out
Posted by: David P. Greisman on 5/11/2015
by David P. Greisman
Marvin Thomas hasn’t been mentioned by name, but he still feels as if his name has been dragged through the mud by Gary Russell Jr. and the featherweight titleholder’s team — unfairly, at that.
Thomas, who had been Russell’s conditioning coach in the past, was referenced in interviews prior to Russell’s title win this past March over Jhonny Gonzalez. In particular, Russell mentioned that he’d changed strength and conditioning coaches after he dropped a majority decision to Vasyl Lomachenko in June 2014.
“Leading up to the fight, we were in a sauna for the past two, maybe three days leading all the way up into the fight. That’s what my [previous] strength and conditioning coach wanted me to do,” Russell said on a conference call before the Gonzalez bout.
“Anyone that's seen that fight, whether it was Lomachenko or anyone else, they’ve seen the difference in my punching ability, my endurance, my speed, just me as a person. People knew that that wasn't the Gary Russell, Jr. that they'd seen the previous 24 fights. And that was some of the things that came up in the Lomachenko fight. I was completely tired and fatigued in the first round, you know?”
And Russell’s father, Gary Sr., said something similar in an interview with boxing website Behind The Gloves.
“Lomachenko was a real tough fight but what people don’t know is my son was in a sauna three days in a row before the fight, each after a long training session,” Russell Sr. was quoted as saying. “He had a strength and conditioning coach for the first time in his career. And without my knowledge, he was taking my son to the sauna for hours after training. You could tell by the first round with Lomachenko, something was off. Gary wasn’t himself. He was dehydrated. The sauna is a vampire. Sucks the life out of you.”
But Marvin Thomas claims that what’s being said isn’t true — particularly that Russell Jr. had been using the sauna despite Thomas’ protests. He said he never took past clients to the sauna, including Hall of Famer Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, current contenders Lamont and Anthony Peterson, and prospect Dusty Harrison.
“I never took them guys to the sauna. I never advised them to go to the sauna. This is on Gary only,” Thomas said. “I told him, you don’t have to go to the sauna. This is not good for you. But he wanted to do it his way.”
Thomas said he’d also been with Russell Jr. for multiple fights, something corroborated by a late 2012 interview Thomas did with boxing website Ringside Report.
He called Russell “lazy” and said Russell “doesn’t like to run.” Other members of Russell’s camp, including his father and brothers, knew about the sauna use, Thomas said.
Russell started out camp for Lomachenko between 140 and 145 pounds, and he was at 128 when they arrived in California before the bout, Thomas said. The conditioning coach recalled that the fighter then went to a sandwich shop, gained a few pounds, didn’t want to run it off and went to the sauna instead.
“Gary is lazy as shyt,” Thomas said. “Gary was in the sauna every single fukking day that we were up in California. And his father knew this. This was no secret.”
Russell infamously passed out from dehydration prior to competing in the 2008 Olympics due to wearing a “sauna jacket,” according to a report at the time in the New York Times.
Thomas said he had to sue Russell for non-payment. Maryland online court records show that Thomas filed a civil case in Prince George’s County District Court in July 2014, weeks after the Lomachenko loss, and was ultimately awarded a judgment of $5,000 in November.
http://www.boxingscene.com/gary-russells-former-conditioning-coach-lashes-out--90892
I guess that "bu-bu-but, my S & C coach made me go to the sauna
" excuse for the beating Pretty Boy Loma put on him is dead now
Just admit you was enjoying those California sandwiches and put on the extra weight
Anyways, he did bounce back strong and looked excellent against Jhonny Gonzalez. That's a testament to how elite Loma is imo, because he made GRJ look like a complete fraud..........but GRJ bounced right back and looked like the elite prospect he was heralded to be against Gonzalez
I would love to see them 2 run it back
Posted by: David P. Greisman on 5/11/2015
by David P. Greisman
Marvin Thomas hasn’t been mentioned by name, but he still feels as if his name has been dragged through the mud by Gary Russell Jr. and the featherweight titleholder’s team — unfairly, at that.
Thomas, who had been Russell’s conditioning coach in the past, was referenced in interviews prior to Russell’s title win this past March over Jhonny Gonzalez. In particular, Russell mentioned that he’d changed strength and conditioning coaches after he dropped a majority decision to Vasyl Lomachenko in June 2014.
“Leading up to the fight, we were in a sauna for the past two, maybe three days leading all the way up into the fight. That’s what my [previous] strength and conditioning coach wanted me to do,” Russell said on a conference call before the Gonzalez bout.
“Anyone that's seen that fight, whether it was Lomachenko or anyone else, they’ve seen the difference in my punching ability, my endurance, my speed, just me as a person. People knew that that wasn't the Gary Russell, Jr. that they'd seen the previous 24 fights. And that was some of the things that came up in the Lomachenko fight. I was completely tired and fatigued in the first round, you know?”
And Russell’s father, Gary Sr., said something similar in an interview with boxing website Behind The Gloves.
“Lomachenko was a real tough fight but what people don’t know is my son was in a sauna three days in a row before the fight, each after a long training session,” Russell Sr. was quoted as saying. “He had a strength and conditioning coach for the first time in his career. And without my knowledge, he was taking my son to the sauna for hours after training. You could tell by the first round with Lomachenko, something was off. Gary wasn’t himself. He was dehydrated. The sauna is a vampire. Sucks the life out of you.”
But Marvin Thomas claims that what’s being said isn’t true — particularly that Russell Jr. had been using the sauna despite Thomas’ protests. He said he never took past clients to the sauna, including Hall of Famer Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, current contenders Lamont and Anthony Peterson, and prospect Dusty Harrison.
“I never took them guys to the sauna. I never advised them to go to the sauna. This is on Gary only,” Thomas said. “I told him, you don’t have to go to the sauna. This is not good for you. But he wanted to do it his way.”
Thomas said he’d also been with Russell Jr. for multiple fights, something corroborated by a late 2012 interview Thomas did with boxing website Ringside Report.
He called Russell “lazy” and said Russell “doesn’t like to run.” Other members of Russell’s camp, including his father and brothers, knew about the sauna use, Thomas said.
Russell started out camp for Lomachenko between 140 and 145 pounds, and he was at 128 when they arrived in California before the bout, Thomas said. The conditioning coach recalled that the fighter then went to a sandwich shop, gained a few pounds, didn’t want to run it off and went to the sauna instead.
“Gary is lazy as shyt,” Thomas said. “Gary was in the sauna every single fukking day that we were up in California. And his father knew this. This was no secret.”
Russell infamously passed out from dehydration prior to competing in the 2008 Olympics due to wearing a “sauna jacket,” according to a report at the time in the New York Times.
Thomas said he had to sue Russell for non-payment. Maryland online court records show that Thomas filed a civil case in Prince George’s County District Court in July 2014, weeks after the Lomachenko loss, and was ultimately awarded a judgment of $5,000 in November.
http://www.boxingscene.com/gary-russells-former-conditioning-coach-lashes-out--90892
I guess that "bu-bu-but, my S & C coach made me go to the sauna
" excuse for the beating Pretty Boy Loma put on him is dead nowJust admit you was enjoying those California sandwiches and put on the extra weight
Anyways, he did bounce back strong and looked excellent against Jhonny Gonzalez. That's a testament to how elite Loma is imo, because he made GRJ look like a complete fraud..........but GRJ bounced right back and looked like the elite prospect he was heralded to be against Gonzalez
I would love to see them 2 run it back
...Gary russ did what he had to do without him and now he's running things at 126
, that can't be denied whether his fault or Thomas, hopefully it's makes him take the craft more seriously regardless ( what we saw in his following fight is a good start)
