That stood out because Russell is generally the aggressor. He walks opponents down, throws in volume, and forces exchanges. On this fight, he spent long stretches backing up and attempting to slow the pace. Hiraoka’s jab kept finding him early, and once the body attack picked up, the tone of the fight shifted. Even when someone edged it to Russell, it didn’t feel like an evening that ought to produce 117-110.
Fans on X and YouTube reacted the identical way. Many weren’t simply unhappy with the scoring; they believed Hiraoka did enough to win. The width of the cards only added to that feeling. In a fight that felt competitive, wide margins don’t calm people down. They create doubt about how the rounds were being judged.
Russell selected to maneuver on and begin naming larger fights at 140. From a profession standpoint, that is sensible, but it surely also means he will not be addressing the portion of the audience that walked away unconvinced. With no rematch on the table, that response doesn’t fade quickly. It follows him into the subsequent fight.
For this reason the win will not be as clean because the record suggests. Officially, it’s a transparent decision. Unofficially, a noticeable slice of the audience questions it. When a fight produces that type of split response, and there is no such thing as a interest in running it back, the result never fully settles in the general public mind.
For some fans, this victory now carries a mental footnote. They may see the win on paper, but they are going to remember a fight they believed he lost or no less than didn’t control. That perception doesn’t disappear since the belt stayed with him. It shows up in how seriously they take his callouts and the way they measure him against the opposite names at junior welterweight.
If Russell moves straight into a serious fight, a part of the audience will approach it with skepticism. They may want proof contained in the ring. A transparent, dominant performance against a top opponent would quiet a lot of the noise. One other close or debated decision would bring this conversation right back to the surface.
He stays champion, and the belt confirms it, but full acceptance from fans will rely upon what he does next and whether the subsequent win leaves no room for doubt.
