A new format, fresh faces, a bright start.<\/p>\n
Boxing can use all three, and as TNT Sports enters the game one month from today with its new showcase series, \u201cThe Fight,\u201d new featherweight champion Bruce Carrington and 22-year-old Abdullah Mason are charged with ushering in the sport\u2019s next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like a lot of new faces are coming in and getting our shine,\u201d Carrington, nicknamed \u201cShu-Shu,\u201d told BoxingScene of the July 4 Cleveland show. \u201cIt\u2019s about time to introduce this new era of boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the perfect time with Canelo [Alvarez] being on the tail end of his career, with \u2018Bud\u2019 [Terence Crawford] retired. The other guys in that class are almost retired as well. There\u2019s a lot of exciting, new faces in the sport \u2013 Abdullah Mason, myself and a few other guys I could name. It\u2019s dope.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Top Rank fighters can be seen simultaneously on the promoter\u2019s streaming partner DAZN, but the more mainstream attention on the holiday of the nation\u2019s 250th birthday has the potential to be a key play in the sport\u2019s reach to rebuild its once formidable audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the things I fight for \u2013 the big, major moments to show you guys there\u2019s a superstar in the works. If I continue putting my face out there, I can become a household name in the country,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cPeople are watching me. I\u2019ve got to deliver. And I\u2019m going to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After capturing the WBC featherweight belt January 31 at Madison Square Garden by knocking out Phoenix\u2019s Carlos Castro in the ninth round, Carrington, 17-0 (10 KOs). returns to defend his belt in the July 4 co-main event versus Mexico\u2019s Rene Palacios, 19-0-1 (10 KOs).<\/p>\n
Promoted by ProBoxTV, Palacios, 25, is ranked No. 10 by the WBC.<\/p>\n
Carrington, who served as an expert analyst on the undercards of Top Rank\u2019s final ESPN broadcasts before that alliance ended last year, was asked to break down his own bout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say too much. It will be a dominant victory, though,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just going to go in there and show there\u2019s levels to this. [Palacios] is a great fighter in his own rank, but I just know I have the tools to make it an easy night.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the main event, Cleveland\u2019s Mason, 20-0 (17 KOs), makes his first WBO title defense against Wales\u2019 Joe Cordina, 19-1 (9KOs).<\/p>\n
Add Mason\u2019s undeniable talent with Carrington\u2019s skillset and gift for gab, and the next generation is ready for its close-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel most fighters are so focused on the fighting end of the sport, but I\u2019m one of those guys who\u2019s not afraid to show my personality,\u201d Carrington, 29, said. \u201cI like to differentiate myself from those other guys in the ring, wanting people to think, \u2018He\u2019s a good fighter, but he\u2019s also cool, funny, humble.\u2019 Those are the ingredients to become a superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doing the live commentary helped the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt my third fight, I was just star-struck, stuttering over my words, but that work and those experiences help me to be even better,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cI realized I didn\u2019t properly do film study of fighters until I started doing the [ESPN] commentary. To know a bit about the fighters, you have to do the due diligence to look at the fights, to see their strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized I\u2019m nowhere near where I need to be [in doing that for his own fights]. It helped raise my game up a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrington stands as a champion among three other gifted featherweights wearing belts, including Top Rank\u2019s unbeaten 6-feet-1 WBO champion Rafael Espinoza, ProBoxTV\u2019s gutty Angelo Leo and the veteran Brandon\u00a0 Figueroa of Premier Boxing Champions, who recently ventured to the U.K. and came home with former IBF champion Nick Ball\u2019s belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I would say I see myself as No. 1,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cI see myself as having the talent to beat all these guys, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m shooting for undisputed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know people will say Figueroa has a deeper resume, more accomplishments, that Espinoza is this tall guy. But I feel if you really have an eye for this sport, you\u2019ll understand I\u2019m undeniably the best in the group, and you\u2019ll know why my ambitions are what they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrington was not bashful in saying he\u2019s also willing to meet undisputed junior-featherweight champion Naoya Inoue of Japan should he ultimately decide to further his No. 1 pound-for-pound exploits by chasing a fifth division title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he moves up to 126, I can definitely see it happening,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cHe\u2019s had a great career, has broken records, he\u2019s an exceptional fighter. But my job and path is to be No. 1 in the featherweight division, whether Naoya Inoue is there or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wearing his own new belt breeds a type of newfound confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing about my growth is leaning on God, challenging myself to do a lot of things I\u2019m not comfortable with,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I can find myself being more comfortable in things I\u2019m not comfortable doing, that\u2019s where you find growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cRe-introducing the \u2018Shu-Shu show\u2019 to the world is must-see TV. I can\u2019t wait for them all to see my skills on July 4.\u201d<\/p>\n
The holiday that reminds of the opportunity available in the country reminded Carrington why his home New York bureau of Brooklyn was so meaningful to his development, considering it also raised Mike Tyson and recent 140lbs world champions Teofimo Lopez and Richardson Hitchins.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing from Brooklyn is different from every other area of New York. It\u2019s known as the grimy, gritty area that can become a kill-or-be-killed, eat-or-be-eaten type environment,\u201d Carrington said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps you build up thick skin. On top of that, there\u2019s that whole New York, Empire State of mind. Getting up and going. That whole hustle and bustle thing. It helps a lot with survival \u2013 if you can survive New York, you can survive anywhere. Add that all with growing up in Brooklyn, and we carry a lot of confidence into any room.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an example to all on July 4: If Carrington can achieve his dreams, anyone in the country can.<\/p>\n
The Brooklyn part of Carrington \u2013 knowing the toil involved, and seeing so many others fall by the wayside \u2013 couldn\u2019t fully endorse that statement<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new format, fresh faces, a bright start. Boxing can use all three, and as TNT Sports enters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[38999,64,63,802,1920,6653,22585,85,347190,126802],"class_list":["post-715411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-abdullah-mason","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-boxingscene","tag-bruce-carrington","tag-sports","tag-the-fight","tag-tnt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}