Bruce Carrington aiming to follow in the footsteps of Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather as he plots world domination
Watch Bruce Carrington fight Brayan De Gracia in New York live on Sky Sports Action from 2am in the early hours of Sunday; junior middleweight sensation Xander Zayas also takes on Patrick Teixeira in the main event to kick off Puerto Rican Day Parade
Wednesday 5 June 2024 21:14, UK
Welcome to the 'Shu Shu' show. Not sure what that means just yet? You will. Bruce Carrington will see to that.
The American featherweight contender (11-0, 7 KOs) is regarded as one of the world's most exciting rising talents in boxing. He calls out Naoya Inoue, he comes from the same neighbourhood as Mike Tyson, he envisions establishing a reputation in the same light as Floyd Mayweather.
Carrington, also known as Shu Shu, resumes his ascent to stardom this weekend when he fights Brayan De Gracia in New York - live on Sky Sports Action from 2am in the early hours of Sunday.
"It's the Bruce Carrington experience," he tells Sky Sports. "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.
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"You can say I'm biased or whatever, but I feel like I have the best fans in the game. Everybody in the crowd dancing, having a good time, jumping around, they're real vibrant.
"The Bruce Carrington experience is one like no other."
Carrington's credentials were underlined in 2023 when he was named Ring magazine's 'Prospect of the Year', joining a star-studded list that includes the likes of Keyshawn Davis, Teofimo Lopez, Anthony Joshua and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
"That was an incredible moment for me because a lot of fighters who are champions now have won that award," he said.
"That have me a real boost of confidence and let me know that what I'm doing is good. It made me want to continue to prove everybody right and that I'm a guy you are going to watch for years to come."
The 27-year-old is the latest beacon of inspiration to emerge from the crime-stricken neighbourhood of Brownsville in eastern Brooklyn in New York City.
Brownsville was previously home to former heavyweight world champions in Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Shannon Briggs, as well as former middleweight world champion Daniel Jacobs.
He has regularly paid tribute to his parents who steering him clear of trouble, and has now set out to use his platform to guide others from the area towards success.
"Brownsville is pretty infamous for having the grimiest, grittiest people coming out of New York," he says. "I was getting a lot of a lot of traction pretty early in my career to where I was getting pretty popular around the neighbourhood. So they were already deeming me as 'the next one' and there was some pressure on my back as a young kid.
"It was pretty rough, but living in an environment like that there's so much you can do.
"My first time ever seeing someone get killed, I was like five or six years old. Witnessing something like that is crazy
"I started to hear gun shots and wake up to gun shots. It built a tougher skin for me."
As Carrington's amateur stock grew and his talent became more evident, so too did the hopes of those around him in the Brownsville area. Here was their new flag-bearer behind whom they could believe.
"Once they saw that I was really serious about being a boxer they pushed and pushed and pushed and made sure that I was the person to be successful," he continued. "They wanted me to be the ambassador of Brownsville, because there is more to Brownsville than the bad things it is known for.
"There are basketball players, actors and celebrities that come from Brownsville. They just really want me to be an ambassador for Brownsville and that's what I'm going to do."
Perhaps thanks to his background, Carrington cuts a figure of unwavering self-belief with a proclivity for welcoming every test and trial life and boxing can toss in his direction. He has seen adversity, he has seen hardship, he has seen challenges. He believes he has the beating of it all.
As much was evident not so long ago as he outlined his willingness to step in the ring with four-weight world champion Naoya Inoue.
"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.
"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.
"But like I said, Brownsville people never run and never will. If it happens it happens, I would love it."
For now, he has his sights on eclipsing a pool of American talent in and around him. He has unrivalled supremacy in mind.
"It's about that time for me to really take over," he says. "I was telling myself, preparing myself to turn pro while I was in the amateurs, that these guys that are at the top of the game right now, this is their chance to make the best of their opportunity, because as soon as 'Shu Shu' comes into the show, I'm taking over.
"I'm really going to show them I'm different. Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, whoever, these guys are good but I'm different.
"I carry a different attitude, a different energy and everybody's going to feel it."
His latest flash-point arrived in February when he landed a stunning knockout finish against Bernard Angelo Torres, a devastating right hook sending his opponent crashing to the canvas.
"I threw the shot and it felt like butter," he recalls. "He went down hard, but I didn't expect him to stay down, I walked back to my corner and then turned around to see him on the ground in the roughest way and the ref was already waving it off.
"It was an incredible feeling and all the work we put in was worth it.
"There's so much more that I planned to do in that fight. Maybe with this fight he can test me enough to be able to show more aspects that I can bring - but that's if you can handle it."
Carrington has big plans. By the time he is finished, he wants to ensure the 'Shu Shu' show is remembered for generations.
"I'm going to just keep it short and sweet, whenever you guys mention Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather - Bruce Carrington will be in that conversation when it's all said and done," he said.
Watch Bruce Carrington fight Brayan De Gracia in New York live on Sky Sports Action from 2am in the early hours of Sunday; junior middleweight sensation Xander Zayas also takes on Patrick Teixeira in the main event to kick off Puerto Rican Day Parade