Trainer Greg Hackett says Bruce Carrington needs to move up to 130, super featherweight, after a disappointing ten-round majority decision win over Sulaiman Segawa last Friday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Many fans felt that the 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 by the scores 95-95, 97-93 and 97-93. He looked like the loser and was quite fortunate the judges scored the way they did. Segawa had outboxed and outslugged Carrington, showing that he was on another level talent-wise.
Hackett thinks that Carrington’s problems were because of his struggles draining down to 126, as he’d looked very thin last Thursday at the weigh-in. However, Carrington didn’t look much better during the fight because he still appeared 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’d like to see him develop more to get experience before fighting the talented fighters.
The problem with that is that Carrington will be turning 28 soon, and fighters his age are supposed to be at their best, fighting top-rung competition. He can’t afford to face lesser opponents for much longer before he wastes his potential.
“Not yet. Shu Shu is of age, but he’s not of experience,” said trainer Greg Hackett to Fighthype 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 have come against Jason Sanchez and Brayan De Gracia. Top Rank hadn’t matched Carrington against a live body until last Friday when they put him in with Segawa, and he failed that test. So, they can either set up a rematch or move backward.
“When you turn pro, it’s a different ballgame. The tempo changes, the punches change, everything changes,” said Hackett. “The distance changes. You don’t got no headgear on no more, and you’re not scoring punches no more. You’re trying to hurt the guy real bad.”
Top Rank doesn’t necessarily need to match Carrington against Fulton, Figueroa or Inoue yet, but they should 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 viewed by the public as having been given a gift decision based on his popularity, hype and his powerful promoters at Top Rank.
“Shu Shu is a more accomplished amateur than he is a professional. I say, stay away from the Cool Boys and stay away from the Figueroas and the Inoues,” said Hackett. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and work your way up. People keep badgering about his age, but if I were him, I wouldn’t pay that no mind. I would just worry about what I’m working on and where I’m going.”
Carrington’s age is a problem that he and Top Rank should worry about, because he can’t be continued to be matched against weak opposition into his 30s. If he’s not yet able to hang with top level opposition at 27, he’s got a problem.
“Also, 126 might be a little draining for Shu Shu. He might be a 130-pounder. He might be killing himself to make 126, and it might be unnecessary because it might be taking 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 tempo.”
I don’t think 126 is the problem for Carrington. He doesn’t like getting hit and caves in when he faces someone who can hit back. We’d seen that some of Carrington’s other fights, but it was more evident against Segawa.
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