By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Another of Gary Russell Jr.’s younger brothers continued his progression as a prospect Saturday night.
Antonio Russell stopped Jose Cardenas early in the sixth round of their scheduled eight-round bantamweight bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Russell buzzed Cardenas with several power punches, which caused the referee to stop their fight 22 seconds into the sixth round, with Cardenas still standing, backed into his own corner.
The 26-year-old Russell, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, improved to 13-0 and record his 11th knockout. The skilled, strong southpaw was winning their fight handily when he recorded his sixth straight technical-knockout victory on the Brian Castano-Erislandy Lara undercard.
Earlier Saturday night, welterweight prospect Richardson Hitchins stopped David Morales following three mostly one-sided rounds. Their welterweight encounter for eight rounds.
Brooklyn’s Hitchins (8-0, 4 KOs), a 2016 Olympian for Haiti, knocked down Morales with 24 seconds to go in the third round after landing a straight right hand. Morales got off one knee and finished the third round, but his handlers stopped the fight following that three-minute period.
Nicaragua’s Morales (13-10, 13 KOs, 1 NC) lost by knockout for the fourth time in his past six fights. He landed several right hands and left hooks as Hitchins unloaded power punches on him, but he couldn’t affect the 21-year-old Hitchins with any of his punches.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
