NEW YORK —
Bruce Carrington doesn’t want to go back and forth with
Stephen Fulton on social media.
The
newly crowned WBC interim featherweight champion would rather fight him in the ring. Fulton, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has beaten more accomplished opponents than the emerging Carrington, but he isn’t sure if he wants to make the physical sacrifices required to squeeze his 31-year-old body down for another fight in the 126-pound division.
Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for Fulton’s WBC featherweight title. That doesn’t ensure, however, that he will ever fight Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs).
The former WBC/WBO junior featherweight champ has committed to challenging WBC 130-pound champ O’Shaquie Foster next.
Their fight was supposed to be part of the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach undercard Aug. 16 in Las Vegas.
Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) and Fulton find themselves in limbo because the Davis-Roach rematch
has been pushed back indefinitely.
If Foster and Fulton go in different directions, Carrington wants next. He feels their styles would help them produce a fan-friendly fight and considers Fulton more accomplished than boxing’s other three featherweight champs
Nick Ball (WBA),
Rafael Espinoza (WBO) and
Angelo Leo (IBF).
“Let’s make it happen,” Carrington told The Ring following his unanimous points victory over Namibia’s Mateus Heita (14-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. “I got the interim title and we can make it happen. You got the regular belt. Let’s get it going.”
If Fulton fights Foster, he doesn’t need to decide until afterwards if he wants to remain in the 130-pound division or return to featherweight for another title defense against Carrington. Carrington, of Brooklyn, New York, wants to beat Fulton to legitimize himself as a champion, though would be elevated from interim status if Fulton remains in the 130-pound division.
“I wanna fight for the belt next,” Carrington said. “I try not to get ... caught up into the whole thing, though, because I understand everything happens in the right time for a reason. I 100 percent wanna fight for the belt next and hope that there is an interest in Stephen Fulton to fight me.
"I feel like he is a well-decorated champion. He’s a two-division champion. I think right now he is the most accomplished featherweight champion in the division, when it comes to like the opposition and the accolades that he has. I wanna fight against that. That’s what makes me like really hungry to get that respectable win.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing