Gary Antuanne Russell knocked out Rances Barthelemy in the sixth round on the Danny Garcia-Jose Benavidez Jr. card Saturday at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, Russell’s 16th stoppage in as many fights.
The fight was competitive for five rounds, as both fighters had their moments.
Russell took the fight to Barthelemy (20-2-1, 15 KOs) and landed power shots consistently. However, the Cuban kept pace with Russell and had his own success.
The end came suddenly early in Round 6, when Russell landed a right to the temple of Barthelemy, who went down and was hurt.
He was able to get to his feet but referee Shada Murdaugh decided that Barthelemy couldn’t continue and stopped the fight, which drew protests from the loser and his team.
Russell understood Barthelemy’s frustration.
“I know Rances is a high-grade, class athlete and he wanted to continue,” he said. “Emotions were high. Whether we are bruised or beaten, as a warrior, you always want to continue but the referee was doing his job, and if he was allowed to continu,e it would have been the same outcome. I would have gotten him.
“In the sixth round I had him backing up. I knew he was looking for his right cross, and I caught him backing up, and I shot my hook and put him down. He was buzzed but he wanted to keep going. He’s a warrior.”
Barthelemy, 36, is a two-division titleholder. He was hoping to win a belt in a third.
“This is the most bitter loss of my career,” he said. “I’m destroyed. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t Russell’s fault at all. I’m a veteran, and I had been through something like that plenty of times in my career. The referee treated me like a rookie instead of the two-time world champion I am.”
The official time of the stoppage was 50 seconds into the sixth round.
Russell has now stopped all 16 of his opponents.
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