Trainer Greg Hackett says Bruce Carrington should move up to 130, super featherweight, after a disappointing ten-round majority decision victory over Sulaiman Segawa last Friday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Many fans felt that Brooklyn native Carrington (13-0, 8 KOs) should have lost the fight to Segawa (17-5-1, 6 KOs) and was only given a win because the contest was held in his backyard .
The judges gave the 27-year-old Carrington the victory with scores of 95-95, 97-93 and 97-93. He looked like the loser and was quite happy that the judges scored. Segawa outboxed and knocked out Carrington, showing that he was on another level talent-wise.
Hackett believes Carrington’s problems were due to his struggles draining down to 126, as he looked very thin at the weigh-in last Thursday. However, Carrington didn’t look much better during the fight as he was still thin and not fully rehydrated.
Hackett suggests that if Carrington is going to stay at featherweight, he should forget about fighting Stephen Fulton, Brandon Figueroa or Naoya Inoue. He would like to see him develop more to gain experience before fighting the talented fighters.
The problem with that is that Carrington is turning 28 soon, and fighters his age are supposed to be in their prime, fighting top competition. He cannot afford to face lesser opponents for much longer before wasting his potential.
“Not yet. “Shu Shu is mature, but he doesn’t have experience,” said trainer Greg Hackett Battle hype when asked if Bruce Carrington should fight former unified super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton next.
Carrington is ranked #1 WBA, #2 WBC, #2 WBO, and #8 IBF at featherweight. However, his best non-controversial wins came against Jason Sanchez and Brian De Gracia. Top Rank didn’t match Carrington against a live body until last Friday when they put him in Segawa, and he failed that test. So they can either set up a rematch or move backwards.
“When you turn pro, it’s a different ball game. The pace changes, the punches change, everything changes,” Hackett said. “The distance changes. You no longer have headgear on, and you no longer get punched. You’re trying to hurt the guy a lot.”
Top rankings don’t necessarily need to match Carrington against Fulton, Figueroa or Inoue yet, but they need to set up a rematch with Sulaiman Segawa so he can show the public that he can improve enough to defeat him without controversy.
After his performance last Friday, Carrington is considered by the public to be a gift decision based on his popularity, hype and his powerful promoters on Top Rank.
“Shu Shu is a more skilled amateur than he is a professional. I say stay away from the Cool Boys and stay away from the Figueroas and the Inoues,” Hackett said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and work your way up. People keep freaking out about his age, but if I were him, I wouldn’t care. I’ll just worry about what I’m working on and where I’m going.”
Carrington’s age is an issue for him and Top Rank to worry about as he cannot continue to be matched against weak opposition in his 30s. If, at 27, he still can’t hang with opposition at the highest level, he has a problem.
“Also 126 might be a bit exhausting for Shu Shu. He might be a 130 pounder. He can kill himself to make 126, and that might be unnecessary because it might take away from his punch. So, I think he should go up to 130. As far as fighting ‘Cool Boy’ (Stephen Fulton) and all that, leave them guys alone. It’s a different league. It’s a different pace.”
I don’t think 126 is the problem for Carrington. He doesn’t like to be hit on and collapses when faced with someone who can hit back. We’ve seen that from Carrington’s other fights, but it was more evident against Segawa.
