Gary Antuanne Russell didn’t need much time to keep his knockout streak alive.
The 140-pound contender stopped overmatched Kent Cruz at 2:39 of the opening round of a scheduled 10-rounder on the Emmanuel Rodriguez-Melvin Lopez card Saturday in the Washington, D.C. area, where Russell is from.
Cruz (16-1-3, 10 KOs) came in 2½ pounds overweight — Russell weighed 138½ — but the added bulk certainly didn’t help the St. Louis fighter.
The beginning of the end came midway through the round, when Cruz, apparently preoccupied with what he thought was a clash of heads, was hit with a series of shots and hit the canvas.
Cruz was able to get up but soon went down again from a left to the body and was counted out.
Russell (17-0, 17 KOs) now has eight first-round knockouts.
“I saw the opening and I took it,” Russell said. He went on: “Like I said before, I wasn’t shooting for the knockout streak, but that’s just what happened during a minute and a half worth of work tonight. If the opportunity is there, why not take it?”
He’s ranked No. 2 by the WBC, meaning his first shot at a world title is on the horizon if he continues to win.
In an earlier bout, welterweight prospect Travon Marshall (8-1, 7 KOs) was knocked out by underdog Gabriel Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled 10-round bout.
