Gary Russell Jr. vs. Patrick Hyland: Fight Time, Date, Live Stream and TV Info

WBC featherweight champion "Mr." Gary Russell Jr. (26-1, 15 KO) will defend his title against Patrick "The Punisher" Hyland (31-1, 15 KO) on Saturday night in Mashantucket, Connecticut. It's been more than a year since Russell has been in the ring.

Russell will be making the first defense of his title, and it will be Hyland's first shot at a world championship. Here's how you can watch:

When: Saturday, April 16 at 11 p.m. ET

Where: Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut

TV: Showtime

Live Stream: Showtime Anytime

In this interview posted by ESNews Reporting, Russell talks about what he needs to do to beat Hyland and more at Wednesday's press conference:

Last Time Out

Russell Outclasses Gonzalez to Win WBC Crown

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

After failing in his first attempt to capture a world title against Vasyl Lomachenko in June 2014, Russell put on a dominant performance against Jhonny Gonzalez in March 2015. Behind a huge speed advantage and devastating counterpunching, Russell scored a fourth-round TKO to capture the WBC title.

Russell dropped Gonzalez a total of three times in the fight. 

The champion's long layoff wasn't planned. Russell was supposed to face Hyland on the undercard of the Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter bout that was scheduled for March 12. Thurman had a car accident that forced his fight to be postponed, and the rest of the card was cancelled.

Prior to that, an injury pushed Russell out of his bout with Oscar Escandon in November 2015. Hyland is a veteran, but ring rust may be Russell's biggest enemy on Saturday night.

Hyland Beats Up Martinez

Al Bello/Getty Images

While Hyland has had 32 professional fights, he hasn't faced much noteworthy opposition. The best opponent he's faced is current interim WBA featherweight champion Javier Fortuna. Hyland dropped a unanimous decision to Fortuna in December 2012.

Since then, he's won four fights in a row, but only one of them has been scheduled for more than eight rounds. While Fortuna is an excellent young fighter, it seems safe to say that Russell will be the quickest and most physically talented boxer Hyland will have faced in his career.

Prediction

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Speed kills. That's especially the case when someone has a huge advantage in that department. A solid jab can help offset a disparity in quickness, but not one as significant as what Russell will enjoy against Hyland.

Don't expect this one to get past the fifth round. Russell will defend his title with a TKO. 

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