The last thing Bruce Carrington wants to hear after this coming weekend is that he has to win another fight to get a title shot.
It’s the tale he’s been told ever since 2024 became 2025 and the unbeaten featherweight has already grown tired of the repeat commentary.
The good news for the boxing artist known as “Shu Shu” is that his showdown with Namibia’s Mateus Heita, 14-0 (9 KOs), comes with the WBC interim featherweight title at stake. Theoretically, the winner will become the mandatory challenger for the full version of the belt owned by Stephen Fulton, 23-1 (8 KOs).
“On top of fighting in Shu York City, it’s the best way to do it,” Carrington told BoxingScene of taking an important step towards his first major title fight. “I want this to be that last step to becoming a world champion. I don’t see any reason why there should be any hindrance after [Saturday night].
“If my next fight isn’t for the world title, everyone knows it won’t be because of me.”
Carrington-Heita will air live as part of an ESPN tripleheader this Saturday, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET from The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The headlining act pits 22-year-old Xander Zayas, 21-0 (13 KOs), against Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez, 33-4 (26 KOs), for the WBO 154lbs title.
Carrington and Zayas have come through the ranks together and hit the title stage at nearly the same time. Zayas – a Puerto Rican contender based in South Florida – advanced to the WBO mandatory challenger, only to see Sebastian Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs), vacate the belt in lieu of an ordered title defense.
Given his own past history, Carrington is momentarily worried that his career awaits the same fate. It makes Saturday’s bout a bit of an insurance policy. With a win, he and Top Rank can either force a mandatory title fight with Fulton or have the two-division titlist stripped of his belt for failure to defend.
Carrington prefers the former scenario, as he’s at the point in his pro journey where he wants the biggest names in the division.
Top Rank has ties to two of the four titlists in the division – WBO titleholder Rafael Espinoza, 27-0 (23 KOs), who is also with Zanfer Boxing; and IBF beltholder Angelo Leo, 26-1 (12 KOs), who is backed by ProBox (whose founder, Garry Jonas, owns BoxingScene).
Fulton is with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), while WBA titlist Nick Ball, 22-0-1 (13 KOs), is signed to Queensberry Promotions and is a regular on the Riyadh Season circuit.
Carrington called out all four major titleholders after his last win, a sensational third-round knockout of Enrique Vivas on March 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The win positioned Carrington to challenge for the interim title at stake this weekend.
“This fight will put the pressure on these guys to come get with me,” Carrington believes. “Top Rank has done a great job of pushing the issue and putting me in this position. I’ve been not just asking for but showing why I deserve my shot. I just don’t understand why these world champions don’t want to fight me.
“Well, don’t let me BS – I understand why they won’t fight me. But I don’t respect how they’re going about it. They act like they are the best but they’re not showing it by fighting the guys they’re facing. They just want to get in with guys they know they can beat. Come fight a guy like me, ranked number one and earned my shot.”
