NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 19: Bruce Carrington defeats Yuri Andujar in a junior lightweight bout at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on March 19, 2022 in New York, NY. . (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
For a New Yorker like Bruce Carrington, there’s no place like Madison Square Garden.
The 26-year-old featherweight from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood will make his fourth professional appearance on Friday, February 16 at the MSG Theater, taking on Bernard Angelo Torres in a 10-round bout on an ESPN-televised card. do. The headliner is WBC junior lightweight titleholder Oshakie Foster vs. Abraham Nova.
Carrington currently lives and trains in Las Vegas, but is always looking forward to returning home.
“I love fighting at The Garden. There’s nothing like a New York crowd, obviously because I’m from there. But even if I’m not from there, the New York crowd is It’s completely different. It’s exciting and makes me want to perform,” said “Shu-Shu” Carrington (10-0, 6 KOs).
“I hope that I will be able to fight in a large room as soon as possible. I was scheduled to fight in a large room last December, but my opponent was unable to pass my physical ability.”
After being promoted to Top Rank, Carrington had a breakout year in 2023, racking up five wins and earning The Ring’s Prospect of the Year award. He is currently honing new techniques and expects to have even greater skills in 2024, he said.
His first assignment this year will be against Torres (18-1, 10 KOs), a southpaw born in the Philippines who now lives in Norway. Torres, 27, has won two straight since suffering his only loss, a split decision loss to Frency Fortunato Saya in his U.S. debut in September 2022. Carrington says his style is one he’s seen many times over his long career as an amateur, and he says winning the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials highlighted that.
“This is definitely going to be a statement fight. Every match for me is a statement fight, but because of being Ring Prospect of the Year and what I accomplished in 2023, more attention will be on me. It’s going to come together,” said Carrington, who is 5 years old and 4 inches taller than Torres. “8”.
“He’s short so he’ll try to get closer and get on my chest, but I think that’s a bad idea because I’m really confident in my inside work. In any case, If he wants to box, he’s not going to box better than me. If he wants to make it happen in-house, that’s going to happen too. Either way it’s going to end badly. Let’s go.”
This will be Carrington’s second fight in a scheduled 10-round series, but he has already risen to No. 1 in the world rankings. Ranked 8th in the WBO at 126 pounds. He says he’s in no rush to fight any of the top names at 126 pounds, but admits he’s studied them and is a fan of some of their work. Among the names he enjoys are Mexican fighter and IBF titleholder Luis Lopez, who stripped Josh Warrington of the belt in 2022, and WBO titleholder with a huge upset win over Robesy Ramirez. There’s Rafael Espinoza, who won the belt.
Carrington said he remembered watching Espinoza’s win over Ramirez last December and immediately began imagining how he would perform against the aggressive Mexican.
“I think we’ll probably be knocking on the door of some of these top contenders towards the end of the year. I don’t know about the title yet, but I’m ready to play against the champions and everyone, but to be the star I want to be, there’s a certain There are some things we have to do in a way,” Carrington said. , his rise from childhood prospect to amateur star was chronicled in a documentary.Born in Brownsville”
“I just want to be seen as one of the great players who didn’t let anyone fool him and wanted the best fight.” Brownsville said Brownsville never ran and never will run. And I live by that belief.”
Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, and the Guardian, and is a 2020 graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Contact details are as follows: [email protected].
