PORTLAND, Maine — Russell Lamour Jr. satisfied his early athletic passions in sports typical of teenage attraction.
But once he discovered boxing, he found his calling. Now the Portland resident known in the ring as “The Haitian Sensation” is pursuing championships in the professional ranks.
Lamour won the vacant USA New England middleweight title with a hometown victory in June and will return to the Portland Exposition Building on Saturday night to battle Floridian Ahsandi Gibbs for the International Boxing Association Americas middleweight crown.
The fight will be the fourth in nine months for the 31-year-old Lamour, who is 10-0 with five knockouts since making his professional debut on Nov. 10, 2012.
“This is another step forward for Russell,” said his trainer, Bobby Russo, also founder of the Portland Boxing Club.
Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. show — the 100th boxing card promoted by Russo and the PBC over more than two decades, will include eight fights. Seven will involve Portland Boxing Club fighters including bantamweight Jorge Abiague, welterweight Jimmy Smith and the pro debuts of middleweight Jason “The Fighting Fireman” Quirk and light middleweight Casey Kramlich.
The eighth bout has light welterweight prospect Brandon “The Cannon” Berry (8-0) of West Forks in a four-round test against fellow unbeaten Freddy Sanchez (2-0) of Worcester, Massachusetts.
The 35-year-old Gibbs (10-4-2) returned to the ring after a two-year absence in April, dropping a unanimous decision to another undefeated fighter, Thomas Lamanna, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Gibbs’ last four opponents, in bouts spanning back to 2009, had a combined 53-4-1 record when they entered the ring. Gibbs dropped all four of those bouts after winning his first 10 pro fights.
“He’s fought a lot of good fighters,” said Russo. “He’ll be a good test.”
Lamour, the son of Haitian parents, earned his varsity letter in both football and basketball at Deering High School in Portland.
He took up boxing in 2002, following in the footsteps of cousin Lee Lamour, and quickly emerged as a top amateur in the regional and national ranks.
Lamour was a five-time New England Golden Gloves champion as well as a silver medalist at the 2005 Ringside World Championships and bronze medalist at the 2009 USA Boxing Championships.
He began his transition to the pro ranks in 2010 by fighting for the Los Angeles Matadors of the semi-pro World Series of Boxing, a franchise-based organization that allowed its fighters the chance to compete in a pro-style format against international teams while retaining their amateur status.
Lamour was the top-ranked American middleweight in the WSB as well as fourth among all fighters in that weight class.
Lamour concluded his amateur career with a 101-19 record.
“It’s not the typical progression because of his background,” said Russo. “He has the World Series of Boxing background, of which he had seven fights. Those were pretty much professional fights without headgear against the best competition in the world. He beat the Olympic bronze medalist twice in that.
“He’s not a typical fighter, and because of all that background we don’t have to be on a slow track.”
Another victory Saturday night could accelerate Lamour’s career path even further, with a possible appearance on an ESPN card looming in early 2015.
“We’re really on a fast track here,” said Russo, “because if he wins he’ll be rated in top 10 or 15 in the world, which in essence really qualifies him for world title competition.”
