Prior to Bruce Carrington’s breakout win Brayan De Gracia, where he improved to 12-0 with an eighth big KO, Shaun Brown caught up with the charismatic New Yorker named ‘Shu Shu’.
YOU might have heard of Brownsville, Brooklyn. Somewhere north of 120,000 people live in the area covered by just over one square mile.
The relationship between Brownsville and boxing has proven mutually beneficial with Mike Tyson, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Riddick Bowe, Shannon Briggs, Zab Judah and Daniel Jacobs all hailing from the neighbourhood in East Brooklyn. Seven fighters and seven contrasting personalities who all survived the violent streets of Brownsville to make a name for themselves in the sport.
Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs) hails from the same neck of the woods and is part of a conveyor belt of up-and-coming talent at Top Rank that could bring 92-year-old Bob Arum another wave of world champions.
“I truly believe I am the best. It’s just for everybody else to find out,” Carrington tells Boxing News.
The featherweight spoke to BN a day after celebrating his 27th birthday. When you hear him speak you discover his confidence isn’t laced with arrogance, it’s good old-fashioned self-belief that he says will bring him world titles at 126lbs and repeat the feat at 130lbs.
“At this point, everybody is late to the party but hey at least you’re in the party,” he smiles.
“I feel like people are starting to find out who I am, what I bring to the table and the entertainment factor I bring. I really pride myself on being an entertainer. It’s nothing that I really try to do, I just know my style is entertaining. And my attitude to the ring is vicious. I’m a nice guy outside of the ring but when I’m in the ring I really have a lot of rage when I’m in there. It’s something that I feel a lot of fighters don’t have.
“A lot of fighters fight to win too much; they just fight to win. I don’t like that because you’re in a fight. This is a freaking fight. I’m there to hurt you. I don’t wanna just beat you, I want to break your will, I want to beat you down, make you quit. As a man, for another man to be able to do that to you that’s the ultimate way to win. That’s what I love. I get a thrill off that. I don’t feel like a lot of people have that edge and that’s why I’m different. That’s why I’m gonna be known as one of those guys who is talked about more than these top guys are talked about right now.
“I’m different. That’s just it. I know I bring something different to the table. I look at myself in the mirror and I know, and I tell myself, ‘You’re a badass, you really are badass, you are the best’.”
Carrington fights with a sharpness, like a man who could box with his eyes closed and still hit the target. Repetition brings reward from the years and years of perfecting every shot. Particularly, from his right hand. In his last fight, Carrington faced Bernard Angelo Torres and, during the final seconds of round four, the American landed a short right hook which sent the Filipino-born Norwegian face first to the canvas. That was February and it’s already a ‘Knockout of the year’ contender. ‘Shu’ (named after the Egyptian god of the air) is showing a potential which could take him far beyond world championship status.
Reflecting on his career to date, he said, “I’d say I’ve proven myself to the fans, that they know whenever they tune in it’s going to be a crowd-pleasing performance.
“In my last two fights, especially, they were step-ups. Jason Sanchez, never been stopped. He fought Zelfa Barrett, Oscar Valdez, Christopher Diaz and [Adam] Benito Lopez. He fought top guys and for me to get him out of there in two rounds lets me know I’m on a different level from all the guys he’s faced.
“Then with Bernard Torres. Very good record and a good style as well, too. Never been stopped. And then I did it in four [rounds]. I just know that I’m different. Everybody else is just finding this out but the guys in the gym that drill me day to day they know just watching the fights. [But] I knew this was gonna happen.”
“Everybody else gets that surprise factor, that’s cool,” he added.
“I like the surprise factor because it gives that ‘wow’. I try to stay out of the ‘oh, we expected that’ type of feeling for as long as I can because, after a while, it feels watered down. When you’re so used to seeing something all the time it can kinda get ordinary. I want to continue to give that wow factor and I’m going to continue to shoot for the stars.”
Carrington was gazing at the stars from an early age as depicted in Brownsville Born, a documentary, directed by Tom Gould which tells the story of a then 19-year-old Carrington and his boxing journey. It opens with old footage. A much younger Bruce, shaven-headed, telling viewers, “I’m really dangerous, I’ve been working hard. I’ve been sparring with a lot of kids that’s no joke.” The kid then demonstrates rapid-fire combinations that an adult would be proud to show off, if they had the ability.
In the next scene, sirens can be heard and Brownsville is shown from above. “You have to grow up tough around here,” the older Carrington narrates. It is a story of boxing, ambition, family and tragedy.
“So far, I think I’ve seen three people die right in front of my face. You know what gun it is when you hear it.”
The tragedy element centres around the death of Carrington’s brother Michael Hayden who was shot dead in 2014 after returning home from buying a video game.
BN then moved on to discussing fears and phobias with the calm and controlled Carrington.
First up is snakes. “I don’t mess with snakes,” he says. “I would take a picture with one but I’m afraid of what they’re able to do.”
Then comes heights and rollercoasters. “That’s not my thing. I wanna attack that height thing. I want to jump from a plane and skydive so badly.
“My wife don’t want me to do that,” he whispered while laughing. Top Rank heard him, though, and agreed with Mrs Carrington. Their Director of Communications and Fighter Development Evan Korn interjected during the Zoom interview to tell Carrington that it isn’t happening. It was tongue-in-cheek and everyone laughed, more so when it was revealed Top Rank heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr did a skydive.
“Richard did it. Why can’t I do it?” Carrington asked Korn.
“He’s got a better moustache,” Korn replied quick-wittedly.
Carrington admits he might save his big jump for when he’s retired but believes those phobias to be normal. Having any type of phobia is something most can relate to. What others cannot relate to is living with the fear of losing another loved one to murder.
“I never want to go through the experience again,” Carrington says.
“I unfortunately lost my brother to gun violence. That’s something I’m really scared of because that brought me to a dark place, a place I never want to revisit again. It was awful. I’ve done a lot of work mentally to be able to get out of that and never want to revisit that place again.”
Another fear is one typical of an athlete who is developing into someone who could reach the pinnacle of their sport.
“Failure,” Carrington chooses. “I don’t know what failure looks like as of right now as to what I identify as failure.”
“Let’s say hypothetically I lose a fight,” he continues. “I definitely don’t want to do that and that short-term would seem like failure to me, but I know I can redeem myself; I can come back and be a great champion and still have a great career.
“So, I come to ask myself what is failure then? That right there, I really don’t know how to identify. That might be the scary part. Whatever that failure is, I don’t wanna see it. I don’t want to let down my people, my fans, or my family.”
Carrington not only wants to become a world champion, unify the featherweight division, and move up in weight, he wants to show the people of Brownsville and people from any poverty-stricken neighbourhood around the world that you can make something of yourself.
“And use that pain as fuel to be able to strive for the things you want in life,” he says.
“It’s all mental. If you tell yourself, you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna be able to do it. You tell yourself you’re not, you’re not gonna be able to do it. It’s as simple as that. Things might be simple, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. And that’s one thing I want to show.
“My journey wasn’t easy. For me now, it’s simple to make that stride every day to where I want to get to in life. You’re gonna have your ups and downs but that’s what comes with the game. Once you embrace that, things are gonna be easy.”
