NEW YORK – Bruce Carrington was determined Saturday night to deliver a knockout for the bloodthirsty boxing fans in the promising prospect’s hometown.

Brooklyn’s Carrington violently knocked out Yeuri Andujar with a right-left combination that left the Dominican veteran flat on his back a little less than 40 seconds into the fifth round of their featherweight fight on the Edgar Berlanga-Steve Rolls undercard at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. The extremely tough Andujar laid still for a couple minutes, before he eventually was helped to his feet and out of the ring.

Referee Eddie Claudio had no choice but to immediately stop the fight once a bloodied, battered Andujar crashed to the canvas. The official time of the stoppage was 51 seconds of the fifth round.

For four-plus rounds, the 24-year-old Carrington (3-0, 2 KOs) displayed the hand speed, power and intelligence that made promoter Bob Arum sign him to a multi-year contract last year. He picked apart Andujar (5-5-1, 3 KOs) with combinations, showed a willingness to trade and entertained a capacity crowd that arrived early for undercard fights.

In the round before their bout abruptly ended, Carrington rocked Andujar with a left hook and then a right hand that backed him up with just under a minute to go in the fourth round. Carrington then unloaded an array of power punches on Andujar, who showed a lot of toughness by firing back with hard shots of his own.

Claudio called for a break in the action with 2:03 to go in the third round, right after a cut opened around Andujar’s right eye. A ringside doctor quickly examined the cut and allowed Andujar to continue.

Carrington continued to catch Andujar with right hands for the remainder of the third round.

Andujar landed a low right hand that caused a brief break in the action 40 seconds into the second round. Just after the midway mark of the second round, Carrington landed a left uppercut and a right uppercut back-to-back, which got Andujar’s attention.

An aggressive, accurate Carrington caught Andujar with a left uppercut with just under 55 seconds on the clock in the opening round. Carrington landed to hard right hands in succession several seconds later, the second of which backed Andujar into the ropes and made him smile, a clear indication he felt that shot.

In the fight after Carrington’s crushing knockout, unbeaten Puerto Rican southpaw Henry Lebron picked apart Josec Ruiz for much of their junior lightweight fight, before he finally wobbled Ruiz in the seventh round.

Based on the one-sided nature of their first six-plus rounds, referee Benjy Esteves erred on the side of caution, stepped between them and halted the action, with Ruiz still standing. Lebron (15-0, 10 KOs) won by technical knockout at 2:23 of the seventh round.

Ruiz (23-6-3, 16 KOs) proved to be tough and durable, but the Honduran veteran couldn’t contend with his left-handed opponent’s speed and movement. The 27-year-old Ruiz protested the stoppage, in large part because he had not lost by knockout or TKO in any of his first 31 professional fights.

There were times, most notably in the second half of the sixth round, when Lebron buzzed Ruiz with left hands multiple times. He couldn’t put Ruiz down, though, and looked like he would be taken the distance before Esteves intervened late in the seventh round.

In the bout before Carrington’s impressive victory, Armani Almestica showed the hand speed, power and flare for theatrics Saturday night that have made the 20-year-old southpaw an interesting young prospect.

He overwhelmed Luis Valentin Portalatin with combination punching for two-plus rounds, until referee Eric Dali decided Portalatin had taken too much punishment. Dali halted their scheduled four-round, 140-pound bout 1:57 into the third round.

Almestica improved to 5-0 and recorded his fifth knockout. Portalatin, of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, fell to 3-4 and lost inside the distance for the second time in seven pro bouts.

Almestica and Portalatin slugged it out on the inside throughout an action-packed third round. Almestica continually landed the harder shots, though, and Portalatin appeared to fade as that round proceeded.

Dali stopped the action after Almestica landed several unanswered punches and Portalatin appeared to have had enough.

Almestica landed a left that wobbled Portalatin about 45 seconds into the second round. Almestica then landed a left squarely to Portalatin’s groin, which caused a break with 1:25 to go in the second round.

Just before the second round concluded Almestica caught Portalatin with a left uppercut that snapped his head back.

In the opening bout Saturday night, Kelvin Davis didn’t even need 90 seconds to end his four-round fight against Phillip Carmouche.

Davis recorded two knockdowns and stopped Carmouche just 1:17 into their welterweight bout. Davis, a junior welterweight prospect from Norfolk, Virginia, improved to 4-0 and recorded his third knockout.

Las Vegas’ Carmouche slipped to 2-3 and lost by first-round technical knockout for the second time in five professional fights.

The taller, rangier Davis, a southpaw, connected with a straight left hand that made Carmouche’s left glove touch the canvas just 25 seconds into their fight. That counted as a knockdown.

Another left hand by Davis made Carmouche fall into the ropes with 1:47 to go in the opening round. Dali quickly stepped in between them and stopped the fight.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.