NEW YORK – Gary Antuanne Russell has an educated perspective on the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach lightweight title fight Saturday night.

The junior welterweight contender came up through the American amateur system with Baltimore’s Davis and Roach, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Russell, a 2016 Olympian from Capitol Heights, Maryland, knows their styles intimately and understands exactly what Roach must accomplish during their 12-round fight for Davis’ WBA 135-pound championship to pull off an upset at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Roach remaining disciplined and adhering to his game plan is crucial, according to Russell, to banking rounds early in their Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event. Russell cautioned, too, that Davis cannot afford to give away rounds against a crafty fighter like Roach in the event the powerful southpaw cannot land the type of impactful punch he has done all but twice to end his professional fights inside the distance.

However it unfolds, the official odds – 16-1 in Davis’ favor, according to DraftKings – are entirely too wide in Russell’s estimation.

“I think it’s gonna be a good fight,” Russell, who will challenge WBA super lightweight champ Jose Valenzuela in the co-feature, told The Ring. “A lotta people are looking at Lamont Roach like the underdog. I feel like if he can stay focused, he can last, he can survive [Davis’ power]. If he stay focused and continue to have the game plan locked in, like he’s been doing, I feel like he can survive and probably get a split decision. Or it can be a draw.”

Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), one of boxing’s biggest box office draws, has taken a lot of criticism for fighting Roach.

Though Roach stands approximately two inches taller than Davis, he is perceived to be the smaller boxer because the WBA super featherweight champion moved up five pounds, from 130 to 135, for the highest-profile opportunity of his career. Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs) has lost only a 12-round unanimous decision to Jamel Herring, then the WBO junior lightweight champ, in November 2019 at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California.

Roach, 29, lost both of his amateur matches versus Davis on points. He seems extremely confident, however, that he’ll prevent Davis from fighting rival Ryan Garcia again, onetime undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney or unbeaten WBC lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson.

“I feel like that comes from a place of amateur pedigree,” Russell said of Roach’s confidence. “Now, the history with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Lamont Roach, as well as myself – we all came up in the same region and come from the same tournaments – so the familiarity is there. When you’re familiarized with a person’s style, the butterflies really go out the window because you can somewhat brace for impact or expect what to expect. You know what I mean? Lamont and Gervonta Davis have history. They fought before. At the tournaments, it was always one on one side of the bracket and [the other] one lost. They was always just shadowing and looking at each other’s fights. So, they are familiarized with each other’s styles. In the pros, you’re older, you’re smarter now. You’re kinda critiquing the things that you did wrong in the amateurs to be a better fighter.

“Granted, Tank does give away a lotta rounds. Every time he wins he gives four rounds away. Now, they say a professional fight don’t start until round four. I can give a head nod to that. I can second that notion. But some fights, you cannot allow that to happen. You cannot afford to give rounds away. If you’re not gonna knock him out guaranteed, sometimes it can be dangerous for you to give that many rounds away. Lamont Roach, he’s in shape, he’s focused and he’s gonna have a game plan that will allow him to survive if Tank doesn’t hop on him quick enough, hit the gas enough.”

The odds on the bout between Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) and Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs), another southpaw from Renton, Washington, are almost dead even, -115/-110 in Valenzuela’s favor. Valenzuela-Russell will be the third of four fights on an Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET ($79.99).