Undefeated featherweight challenger Bruce Carrington continues his pursuit of WBO world champion Rafael Espinoza, remaining steadfast in his desire for the fight, though perhaps growing less certain it will actually happen.
At 28 years old, Carrington has secured the number-one ranking with the WBO following 15 professional bouts, marked by decisive victories, albeit primarily against opponents with less experience.
Despite holding this prime position for a title shot, ‘Shu Shu’ is convinced that Espinoza, who holds a record of 27-0 with 23 knockouts, or more likely his promotional team, is actively trying to avoid a matchup.
The WBO`s 126-pound champion recently completed his third successful title defense, delivering a convincing seven-round beatdown to the durable Edward Vazquez.
This dominant performance occurred at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, appearing on the undercard featuring Naoya Inoue, with both hard-hitting fighters helping to salvage the Cinco de Mayo boxing weekend after a difficult 48 hours for the sport.
Before stopping Vazquez, Espinoza had also secured a clear victory over Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez in December to retain his WBO belt.
Their initial meeting less than a year prior had been considered a significant upset when ‘El Divino’ narrowly won a points decision to take the title from Ramirez.
However, in their rematch, Espinoza removed any doubt about his championship capabilities, stopping the more seasoned Ramirez with intense, relentless pressure in the sixth round.
Despite Espinoza showing significant improvement recently, including enhancements to his footwork, the 28-year-old Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) appears more than ready to take on the challenge.
Yet, the American fighter is not highly confident that their potential clash will come to fruition, even though both athletes are promoted under the Top Rank banner.
When it comes to business… we get told that he’s not interested, or that his team is not interested,” Carrington told Sean Zittel. “I don’t want to put that on him [Espinoza] personally because I see him as a warrior. But his team, for sure, does not want to cross paths with me, whatsoever.
I want to face the best; I want to fight guys like Espinoza; I want to chop that tree down. The more fights I see him in, the more I want to fight him – because he’s just getting better and better.
