Brooklyn has a long lineage of great fighters who went on to become world champions.
Mike Tyson paved the way for Zab Judah, which opened the doors for
Daniel Jacobs. From there, he passed on the blueprint to both
Teofimo Lopez and
Richardson Hitchins. After watching them do their thing,
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington is attempting to do the same.
Fear? There isn’t any of that. Apprehension, butterflies, and some sweaty palms? Those symptoms are present.
“I feel a little bit of that pressure, but I’m made for it,” Carrington told The Ring. “It’s not something that wasn’t expected or I wasn’t prepared for. I’m ready.”
Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) isn’t running from the moment as he takes on
Mateus Heita for the WBC interim featherweight title. It all goes down
Saturday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Heita (14-0, 9 KOs) doesn’t have the biggest profile, but the Namibia native can't wait for the bell to ring.
For the calm and cool Carrington, the finishing touches are being placed on a long and painful training camp. He always works hard, but with that green and gold belt up for grabs, he believes his focus has gone to another level.
Is he worried about overtraining? Not at all. In fact, considering where he wants to be, in his mind, he needed this sort of arduous work.
“It pushes me even harder,” Carrington said. “The harder I work, the better I perform.”