Gary Antuanne Russell overcomes low blow in Andy Hiraoka defence

Richardson Hitchins had to pull out of his IBF super lightweight title defense against Oscar Duarte, citing an unspecified illness, as their co-main event was cancelled Saturday night.

So, Gary Antuanne Russell slid into the chief support spot instead at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and live on DAZN PPV for the Mario Barrios-Ryan Garcia headliner.

The WBA super lightweight titleholder met a fierce challenge from a rugged Andy Hiraoka, but outpointed him effectively enough to earn a unanimous decision. Judges scored it 117-110, 116-111 and 116-111 all for Russell who recorded his first title defense.

Russell (19-1, 17 KOs) was credited for his early dedication to the body where he made hard deposits to Hiraoka’s midsection. That said, the Japanese fighter would offer the champ a receipt, especially in the seventh round where he savagely ripped Russell’s body with smushing shots to the midsection.

Still, Russell regained control with his sweet science skills, using his quicker hands to touch Hiraoka consistently.

Hiraoka had a costly point deducted in the 10^th round for a pair of low blows — the second of which was egregiously low, leaving Russell in a heap of pain.

Russell rebounded enough to finish the fight strongly.

Hiraoka (24-1, 19 KOs), who flew into Las Vegas from Japan on Thursday night, showed no signs of jetlag as he brought it to the champion and showed he belongs at this level.

That said, Russell still got the unanimous decision nod, inviting fellow champions Dalton Smith and Hitchins to unify, while honestly conceding that he must build up to fighting Shakur Stevenson, the WBO titleholder of the division.

Stevenson, who was doing commentary on the DAZN PPV throughout the night, said he is with the idea of fighting Russell in the near future.