OK, lets get this straight, while the main event at the Foutainebleau in Las Vegas is the rematch between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan for the women's WBO welterweight title, I'll be making the drive into 'Sin City' primarily to see Bruce Carrington. Hey, I like the guy. Sue me.
But nothing against the ladies, who put up a spirited affair back in September, that saw Mayer win a closely contested majority decision to capture the title.
On the undercard, Carrington (14-0, 8 KOs) is matched against the seasoned veteran, Enrique Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs) in a scheduled 10 rounder. For 'Shu Shu' this could be the last fight before he fights for a world title at 126.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
"Definitely, I would love to have a title shot by the summer of this year," he told SNAC.com. "I'm not planning on waiting any longer. I plan of putting on an emphatic performance against Vivas on Saturday, and I can't wait for the opportunity to come."
As you look at the ratings, Carringtons is rated number one by both the WBO (whose belt is worn by Rafael Espinoza) and the WBC (which has Stephen Fulton as their champion). He is fourth in the IBF (Angelo Leo) and second in the WBA, whose titlist is Nick Ball. `
'the Wrecking Ball' is Carrington's champion of choice to face for a title.
"He's probably the most attractive fight for me other than Stephen Fulton. I would say they are close in terms of my interest. But I think I'm a bit more interested in fighting Nick Ball for sure just in terms of style," said Carrington, who made it clear over social media that he'd even be willing to face him in the UK. "It would be a great fight stylistically and where we're at in our careers. It would be a great fight to be made."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
2024 was a highly productive one for the 27 year old Carrington, who notched four victories. The last of which came in November as part of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson undercard where he dominated Dana Coolwell over eight rounds. It was a performance where he gave himself a 'B' for his efforts.
"I got a little bit frustrated in the last round, and I wanted to get him up out of there but I was focused on throwing too many hard shots, instead of putting my shots together, and not being smart enough to be selective," he admitted. "I got a couple of knockdowns and was purely dominant throughout the whole fight."
Carrington is not a pure slugger, what he is though, is a well-schooled, slick technician. One that can box off his jab from the outside, and also be more than comfortable inside the pocket, counter-punching with great precision. For him, his power is his speed and timing.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In the past, Carrington has made it clear that one day he would like to face Naoya Inoue as he eventually moves up to featherweight. He knows that having one of those belts would put him in play. Hey, belts matter.
"That makes sense, he's a two-time undisputed world champion, I feel like anybody that gets a chance to fight him, they should earn it, especially coming up to the featherweight division, "he stated. "If he's going to fight a young gun like me, of course I know I'm a threat. I feel like he knows that I'm a threat from the time he came to watch me fight."
"So yeah, if he wants to fight me, I have to earn it. And that's fine with me because it gives time to build up the fight, and it'll be champion-versus-champion. And yeah, whoever wins it will get some bragging right off of that. So I'm definitely looking forward to getting a world title, even unifying the division if that has to take place to fight Inoue."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
But first things, first. We all know how political this sport can be, is it feasible for Carrington to even get a title shot this year.
Carl Moretti, VP of Boxing Operations for Top Rank, says that they will take the first title shot they can get to. As for the politics of the business, he stated, "I don't think that plays as much in it as much as it used to. It's just when does it happen, and who is it? I don't think that's as big as it is with other fights."
"They'll be bumps for sure, but he'll fight for the title."
ZEPEDA
Meanwhile in Nick Van Exel's preferred vacation spot, leading lightweight contender, William Zepeda, rematches Tevin Farmer in Cancun, Mexico. Back in November it was Zepeda defeating the slick Philly southpaw by the slimmest of margins in a split decision in Saudi Arabia. This bout was contested for the WBC interim lightweight title.
This was a pretty good fight, but did it really warrant an immediate rematch? Who really pushed for this?
Golden Boy
"All of us," was the answer from Golden Boy Promotions president, Eric Gomez. "Mauricio Sulaiman (head of the WBC) started beating that drum a little bit and he said, 'Look, it was a close enough fight, a good fight, would you consider doing the rematch?' He told us he was going to rank Farmer highly and that if he wasn't going to do the rematch that he was still going to do a series of eliminators, and he would be in position to fight for an eliminator."
Currently, Farmer is rated number two by the WBC. In addition to Sulaiman, Zepeda and his management, Oscar De La Hoya, and DAZN, all were in favor of this return bout. "It made sense," said Gomez.
So should Zepeda win in more emphatic fashion, will they push for a shot at Shakur Stevenson, the current WBC belt-holder?
Golden Boy Promotions
Gomez stated, "'His Excellency', Turki (Alalshikh) is interested in doing the Stevenson fight. He's really hot on that fight, he wants to do it. He wants to have a real conversation. Zepeda's willing to do it. That's the fight he wants. We were willing to do it last year, for whatever reason we weren't able to. Shakur's hand was not ready back then."
"So we're going to consider that, but we're going to leave our options open to any of the champions. Whoever is available, if we can get a 'Tank' (Gervonta Davis) fight, why not?"
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', Doug Fischer, editor of Ring Magazine, joined Mario Lopez and I in-studio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUVf19f_k4U
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