While O'Shaquie Foster put in a workmanlike effort to retain his WBC junior lightweight title against Abraham Nova, the show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night was stolen by the young man who lead off the ESPN broadcast.
Bruce 'Shu Shu' Carrington made the loudest statement this evening with an eye-opening one punch KO of Bernardo Torres (18-2, 8 KOs) in round four.
It's clear that Carrington, who hails from nearby Brownsville, Brooklyn is a boxer to keep an eye on. This could be the fighter that the Big Apple has been waiting for.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
“It always means the world to perform in front of my home crowd. New York City. Madison Square Garden. Ya’ll make me want to turn up every time. Every single time I fight here I get a knockout. Every time I fight here, I get a stoppage," said Carrington, who improved to 11-0(7 KOs), and has clearly stamped himself as a featherweight on the rise.
This coming off his eye-opening second round stoppage of the experienced Jason Sanchez back in December. This most recent contest had a few of the regional belts on the line, which may not be a big deal to fans, but they are a sign of progress. Look for Carrington to start moving into the ratings other than the WBO (where he was 11th coming into last week).
After a relatively slow start in the first two rounds, Carrington started to march forward and initiate the attack versus the stocky southpaw. The knockout punch came off an exchange that was punctuated by a counter right hand that sent Torres sprawled out on the canvas.
Bruce Carrington Delivers KO of Lifetime vs Torres | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
The last two outings for the 26-year old aren't just about the results, but how they came about. Again, how you win matters. And they have gotten the attention of the Top Rank brass. He has now clearly become a priority for the company. Carrington has their attention.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
"Let's put it like this, he's the most respected fighter in New York right now, by leaps and bounds," Carl Moretti, the V.P. of Boxing Operations for Top Rank, told SNAC.com. "In addition, he brings people now from all over New York -- it's 'Shu York City'''.
The question is do they now accelerate his pace up the featherweight ladder, or let him develop gradually?
"You can do both," stated Moretti, "every fight is going to be a guy who'll have more fights than him with different styles and everything like that. This guys was a southpaw, kinda awkward, herky-jerky, that he walked down. I don't know, the next guy could be a short Mexican that's not easy to hit, but throws a lot of punches, that is rugged, and pushes him.
"We're at the stage where you're not as worried about who you're going to get, it's how you're going get the guys."
The days of Carrington's bouts being part of the ESPN+ undercard are now over. He had graduated with honors and is now a featured player, and one that will start to regularly be a part of cards in New York City. The plan is for him to be one of the headliners on June 8 as Top Rank puts on their annual Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend card.
No, he isn't Puerto Rican, but he's very much New York.
Top Rank
There was clearly a palatable buzz on Friday night on social media as Carrington landed his KO shot on Torres.
"I could feel the buzz in my pocket," said Morreti, "from my cell phone going off. It wouldn't stop."
UN-RETIRED
In a surprise to no one, WBC lightweight titlist, Shakur Stevenson has come out of his two week retirement. He's back. The sport somehow survived without him.
Last week, I asked Bob Arum (who's company has promoted him throughout his career) on this situation, he explained.
"He retired because he wanted to fight either (Vasiliy) Lomachenko or (Emanuel) Navarrete. Now, Lomachenko had the opportunity to fight (George) Kambosos for a lot of money and a title shot. So I mean, he's not going to fight Shakur for small money, right?"
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Lomachenko is scheduled to face Kambosos on May 12 in Australia for the vacant IBF 135-pound title.
"Navarrete, who was at 130 pounds, a champion, when they were looking at 135, as a champion under the WBO rules he has the option to be the number one contender at 135, and the next guy was (Denys) Baranchyk, who he is fighting," explained Arum.
"So again, the idea that all of these fighters, everybody in boxing are going to jump to Shakur's tune is just fantasy," said Arum, who's company current deal with Stevenson will expire after the next fight. It's been widely reported that Stevenson has balked at a five-fight extension that Top Rank recently offered.
Arum continued, "that's the problem with a lot of these young people today, particularly the ones with a lot of talent, OK, he's prepared to fight anybody at 135, but other people have other aspirations, and ways to go. And unlike what he envisions, the promoter, namely Top Rank controls all the people. We don't."
(***photo 5, courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank ***)
It will be interesting to see what happens, will Stevenson go into free agency? And what are his expectations? Currently, he makes around three million per fight. Arum has a long-standing relationship with James Prince, who manages Stevenson.
"Prince is a real smart guy, and a good guy," said the veteran promoter. "But he's dealing with the same problems that we all have with these kids who want instant gratification. And the fact that he's the manager doesn't mean that the kid will listen to him."
FINAL FLURRIES
I had Foster-Nova scored 116-111 for Foster, who made the first defense of his belt...Tiger Johnson looked good on this undercard....In what was a barn-burner of a fight in Mexico, Sivenathi Nontshinga rallied to stop Adrian Curiel to regain the IBF light flyweight title....Mauricio Lara was very lucky to get a draw on this card....Junior middleweight Charles Conwell has signed on with Golden Boy Promotions.... Heavyweight Jared Anderson will face Ryad Merhy on April 13 as the ESPN main event in Corpus Christi, Texas....Aw geez, is it going to rain again in Southern California?....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
