Kemahl “Hitman” Russell (11-1, 9 KOs) made a triumphant return to the ring this week, scoring a vicious one-punch knockout of Nigel Edwards (9-2-1, 5 KOs) in Kingston, Jamaica. The stoppage victory was part of a card for the Wray and Nephew Contender Series, which Russell himself won in 2015.
“We as a promotional team have extreme confidence in Kemahl Russell as a fighter,” said Ronson Frank, President of Uprising Promotions. “He showed us a great deal in being able to bounce back after taking a chance against a world-ranked contender in Sergiy Derevyanchenko. We didn’t come back against a guy with a soft record. We came back and fought a dangerous 9-1 opponent who only had one less fight than Russell. It shows our confidence in him as a fighter and his confidence in himself to be able to take on these challenges and excel past them. He went out there and got the exact result that we were looking for him to achieve.”
In his first fight since suffering the lone loss of his professional career to Derevyanchenko in March, Russell made his debut in the super middleweight division against Edwards on Wednesday night. The Kingston native wasted little time in disposing of his opponent, with the stoppage coming at the 1:14 mark of the very first round.
The end came after Russell capitalized on a lazy left hand by Edwards. As he threw the punch, Edwards also dropped his right hand, whereas Russell immediately exploded into a left hook that turned the lights out on impact. After Edwards violently hit the canvas, no count from the referee would be needed. Thankfully, he did eventually regain his faculties after the knockout and left the ring on his own accord.
The win for Russell marked his seventh overall in Jamaica, a place where he remains undefeated and has stopped six opponents during his professional career. Next up for Russell is a likely September date in New York.
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