Gary Russell Jr. pulls out of Nov. 14th title defense after getting cut

Gary Russell Jr. (26-1, 15 KOs) won't be making his title defense next weekend after all. The WBC titlist has been injured by a cut sustained during training, one which will force him out of his scheduled Nov. 14th fight with Oscar Escandon which was going to headline on Showtime.

"The network was informed earlier [Monday] that Gary sustained a cut in training and is unable to fight," Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio told ESPN.com. "Of course we are sorry to hear this and we are evaluating our options for the Nov. 14 show. We expect to have an announcement in the next couple of days."

Showtime is hoping to salvage the telecast and perhaps downgrade the show from "Showtime Championship Boxing" to its "ShoBox: The New Generation" series, which focuses on prospects.

Russell Jr. won his world title by stopping Jhonny Gonzalez in four rounds last March, and was the heavy favorite against Colombia's Oscar Escandon in this fight. There's currently no word on whether or not this fight will be rescheduled or just scrapped altogether.