UNBEATEN featherweight contender Bruce Carrington remains undeterred, but perhaps less confident that the fight will ever happen, in his quest to dethrone WBO world champion Rafael Espinoza.
The 28-year-old has earned himself a number-one ranking with the WBO after producing a series of emphatic performances, albeit against limited opposition, through 15 outings.
And yet, despite his desirable position, ‘Shu Shu’ remains convinced that Espinoza, 27-0 (23 KOs), or at least his team, is actively avoiding him.
The 126lb titlist made a third successful defence of his strap last night, putting sturdy campaigner Edward Vazquez on the receiving end of a punishing seven-round beatdown.
His destructive display at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, featured on the undercard of Naoya Inoue, with both fearsome punchers salvaging Cinco de Mayo weekend following a disastrous 48 hours of boxing.
Before halting Vazquez, Espinoza retained his WBO belt with an equally emphatic performance against Olympic gold medallist Robeisy Ramirez last December.
It was considered a sizable upset when, in their first encounter just under a year prior, ‘El Divino’ narrowly outpointed and dethroned Ramirez.
But then, Espinoza removed any doubt over his world-level credentials in their rematch, stopping his more seasoned opponent with a relentless sixth-round onslaught.
Yet still, while the 31-year-old has added several strings to his bow – not least regarding his footwork – in recent years, Carrington, 15-0 (9 KOs), is seemingly more than up for the possible challenge.
At the same time, though, the American holds little confidence that their showdown will get over the line, despite both fighters operating under the Top Rank promotional banner.
“When it comes to business, and when we’re sending things out, 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] because I see [that] he’s a warrior. But his team, for sure, does not want to cross paths with me, whatsoever.
“I want to fight 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.”
