Featherweight prospect Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington 12-0 (8) dispatched late replacement Brayan ‘La Roca’ De Gracia 29-4-1 (25) in the eighth round at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old from Brooklyn, New York pretty much had his way with Panama’s De Garcia, 30, who stepped in to replace Jose Enrique Vivas 23-3 (12) on one week’s notice after the Mexican veteran ran into visa issues.
The fight was the main support bout to the junior middleweight clash between Xander Zayas and Patrick Teixeira.
Carrington established his range early on and progressively broke down De Garcia with each passing round. In the fifth he dropped the rugged De Garcia with a right hand and he repeated the treatment in the seventh.
Carrington went for the kill in the eighth, unleashing a volley a of shots that forced referee Eric Dali to step in at stop the contest at the 2:56 mark of the round.
The Ring magazine’s 2023 Prospect of the Year was pleased with his performance. Watching on from ringside was undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue 27-0 (24).
“It’s interesting that he’s here,” said Carrington in the ring after his latest victory. “He came to watch and he’s leaving right now. So obviously, he came to watch me.
“I’m ringing bells and I’m making noise. That’s what we plan on continuing to do in our career. I want to make that fight happen some time soon.
“There are some things I could’ve done more. There are some things I could’ve done better on the defensive end. He’s a tough opponent and I’m super happy that Brayan came in and took the fight on last-minute notice.
“He came to fight. He’s really strong. His knockout ratio shows the power is there, but you know me, I have a lot of experience and know how to get around that, break my opponent down and do what I do. And that’s how we got the victory.”
Carrington does not lack for confidence. Ahead of the bout, he said: “It’s the Bruce Carrington experience. Every single time I come and fight it’s gonna be a great show. It’s the ‘Shu Shu’ show. That’s must-see TV.”
Inoue, who is widely considered no worse than the third best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet right now, is the ultimate target for the American.
“I would love to fight him because he is known as the best, he is an undisputed champion and a top pound-for-pound guy,” said Carrington.
“I’m just an ambitious guy. I know what I’m capable of and I know I can be the guy to derail his career. It’s all respect, though, all respect. I just know what I’m capable of.”
He added: “I’m not the type of guy to chase down, I feel like my career is going to be what it’s going to be, with or without him. I’m going to be a successful fighter so don’t really want to put too much emphasis on a possible fight with him.”
