Bruce Carrington: The Featherweight Aiming To Be ‘Biggest Name In Boxing’
On Friday (February 16, 2024) at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City, Bruce Carrington enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a spectacular one-punch knockout.
The American featherweight, who collected the first belts of his career with his brutal stoppage of Bernard Angelo Torres, has caught the boxing world’s attention and is being talked about as one of the most exciting prospects in the game.
Carrington has massive ambitions for his career and hasn’t been shy about stating them out loud, so as the 26-year-old New Yorker aims to climb the ranks, let’s take a look at the fighter known as ‘Shu Shu’.
Bruce Carrington Fight Record
Carrington is perfect in his first 11 professional fights, winning seven by knockout. He made his debut in October 2021 and was busy throughout each of the last two years, fighting four times in 2022 and five times in 2023.
After contesting four-, six-, and eight-round bouts, Carrington made the step up to 10-rounders in his past two fights, ending both with ferocious stoppages; he destroyed former world title challenger Jason Sanchez in the second round last December, and two months later, ‘Shu Shu’ crushed Torres with an early contender for knockout of the year.
Carrington’s victory over Torres also saw him collect the first belts of his career: the IBF Intercontinental feather title, the North American Boxing Federation featherweight title, and the WBO Intercontinental featherweight title.
Bruce Carrington Fighting Style
As with any prospect early in his career, it can be difficult to accurately state Carrington’s complete strengths and weaknesses until he’s been properly tested. However, one thing looks certain: ‘Shu Shu’ has power.
The concussive nature of his knockout of Torres and the similarly brutal win over Sanchez suggests Carrington could be a real problem at featherweight. To supplement his power, the American looks to have good fundamentals, works well off his jab, throws a wide range of combinations, and has a solid defense.
Brownsville’s Next Big Star?
Carrington hails from Brownsville, Brooklyn where several former boxing champions have also called home. Former world champions Daniel Jacobs, Zab Judah, and Riddick Bowe were all either born or raised in the New York neighborhood.
There is another boxing legend who grew up in Brownsville whom Carrington takes plenty of inspiration from: Mike Tyson.
After his win over Torres, Carrington took inspiration from ‘Iron Mike’ by quoting one of the former heavyweight champion’s most famous post-fight speeches: “I’m the best ever. There is nobody like me. I am Sunny Liston…Nobody comes nearly close…There is nobody that can match me. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable…”
As ‘Shu Shu’ has shown throughout the early stages of his career, he enjoys the spotlight and he has the bold personality that will be key if he is to become a pay-per-view star in the future.
Ring Magazine has already taken notice having named Carrington as its 2023 Boxing Prospect of the Year.
Bruce Carrington Not Lacking Confidence
The featherweight prospect has laid out his plans for his future, and unsurprisingly, he’s coming for all the gold.
“I plan on being the biggest name in boxing,” Carrington told BoxingScene.com during a recent interview. “I plan on taking over the division.”
He’s even called out super-bantamweight king Naoya Inoue, urging the two-weight undisputed champion to make the step up to featherweight.
After Inoue claimed American fighters don’t like getting punched in the face and that they lack Yamato Damashii (Japanese spirit), Carrington made his thoughts known.
“Through his experiences, I see why he’s tried to say that, but he ain’t got in there with a dog like me, so, when the time comes, he going to see what’s up, and I’m going definitely show him I’m make him a non-believer in that and that statement that he made for sure,” said Carrington said in response.
It’s not only Carrington that has huge belief in his future. Top Rank’s Vice President of Boxing Operations, Carl Moretti, believes ‘Shu Shu’ is destined for the top.
“He’s top ten in featherweight right now. This year, fighting nothing but veteran guys and moving him up in the rankings. At some point by the end of the year he’s ready for a title shot,” said Moretti. “Talent-wise he’s there already.”
