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Bruce Carrington Calls Out Fellow Featherweight Champions For Not Trying To Unify Titles
ARTICLE
Keith Idec
Keith Idec
RingMagazine.com
Bruce Carrington Calls Out Fellow Featherweight Champions For Not Trying To Unify Titles
NEW YORK — Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington couldn’t resist ridiculing Rafael Espinoza.

The unbeaten WBO featherweight champion came to The Theater at Madison Square Garden to scout Carrington in case they eventually collide in a 126-pound title unification fight. Well aware that the 6-foot-1 Mexican was seated ringside, Carrington called out Espinoza (27-0, 23 KOs) during his post-fight interview Saturday night with ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna.

The newly crowned WBC interim featherweight titleholder is just as skeptical, however, about boxing’s three other featherweight champions.

Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) also questioned the desire of IBF champ Angelo Leo (26-1, 12 KOs), WBA champ Nick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) and WBC champ Stephen Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) during an interview with The Ring following his unanimous points victory over Namibia’s Mateus Heita (14-1, 9 KOs).




“I feel like a lotta these guys, they’re not unifying the division,” Carrington said. “Like they’re not trying to get in there. I'm a get in there and wreck this shop. And once I really put my foot into that like world championship title type of guy, whatever that title, like I’m looking to unify in the division and be the first undisputed featherweight champion in the four-belt era. I wanna make history and that’s gonna be the first step to imprint my name in the history books right there.”

Carrington, of Brooklyn, New York, has been particularly critical of England’s Ball, who is scheduled to defend his title against Australia’s Sam Goodman on Aug. 16 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on DAZN. Goodman (20-0, 8 KOs) will move up from the junior featherweight limit of 122 pounds to the 126 to battle Ball.

Fulton, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is expected to move up four pounds to challenge WBC 130-pound champ O’Shaquie Foster (23-3, 12 KOs), but their fight hasn’t been scheduled. Win, lose or draw when he faces Foster, Fulton will have to decide immediately thereafter if he will continue competing in the junior lightweight division or return to featherweight to defend his WBC belt against Carrington.

If Fulton stays at 130 pounds, Carrington would be elevated from interim champion to full champ.

Neither Espinoza nor Leo has a fight scheduled. Carrington would love to face either champion next, if not Fulton or Ball.




“I see myself having that mentality of those Four Kings-era type of guys that just wanna fight the best,” Carrington said. “Ray Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran — I’m like that. I don’t understand why a lot of these guys in the championship level right now in my division, they’re not carrying it. I don’t see them talking about they wanna fight this guy, fight that guy. They’re very quiet. A lot of business decisions, and that’s cool. Don’t get me wrong — certain things, it needs that. But when are we gonna start making it happen?

“The featherweight division ain’t been this hot in a long time. All these guys is occupying every single sanctioning body. What’s up now? Now it’s time to start melting the pot and mixing it up. But I think they need a guy like me to just kinda throw myself in the cards and just kinda just ruin the show. And that’s what I’m here for.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing

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