Bruce Carrington may live in Las Vegas, but he’ll always be a New Yorker.

The featherweight contender from Brooklyn will be fighting in his hometown for the fifth time in twelve fights next Saturday, June 8, when he faces battle-tested Mexican Enrique Vivas in a ten-round bout at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Even though he does his training camps on the other side of the country, he still gets plenty of love on the streets of New York.

“Even if I’m walking down the street people will be like, ‘Oh Bruce Carrington, I’ve seen you fight, I know who you are, let me take a picture!’ More often things like that are happening,” said Carrington (11-0, 7 knockouts).

The boxer known as “Shu Shu” will encounter far more fans on the streets if he can spectacularly defeat Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs), a 29-year-old from Texcoco, Mexico who now resides in Montebello, Calif. Vivas has lost just three times in his ten year pro career – against former title challengers Ruben Villa, Joet Gonzalez and Eduardo Baez.

Vivas has never been stopped, though he has had to get off the canvas in at least one fight, overcoming two knockdowns in 2021 to defeat Luis Coria by unanimous decision. He has more experience going longer rounds, with Carrington only having gone to the eighth round twice, while Vivas has gone ten rounds six times.

“What I expect out of him is what he shows in every single fight that he’s in, which is that he’s a nonstop machine. He is just a come forward guy, you barely see him take one step back. It’s like I’m fighting The Terminator,” said Carrington.

“This is gonna be a great opportunity for me to show that I’m on a different levels from the guys that he faced. I’m gonna be able to stop this nonstop train and do what I have to do in front of my New York fans.”

One boost that Carrington has received in camp is being able to train alongside Gervonta “Tank” Davis. The lightweight star, who is preparing to face Frank Martin on June 15 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has been training alongside Carrington in Las Vegas, with the two pushing each other in their preparations.

“If you are training alongside people who are at the top you’re always gonna get better. I like to surround myself with guys who are more experienced than I am so that I can be able to catapult myself and get better in a faster period of time,” said Carrington, who is guided by head trainer Kay Koroma.

“Learning from Tank, watching him, watching guys that he’s sparring, some of my stablemates have been sparring him. I’ve just been watching and learning a lot from him. I’m just gonna show more and more of what I learned come June 8.”

Carrington acknowledges that, at age 27, the timeline to move him into the world title picture has to be accelerated. He feels that 2025 will be his year to make his move, and isn’t concerned particularly with which titleholder he gets matched with.

“It’s time for me to make an impact on the sport and division, and become a high demand boxer to where, when it’s time to fight those champions, they can’t deny me. I don’t want anyone ducking and dodging. If you call yourself a fighter, show everybody that you’re a fighter. Be a man of your word, stand on it and fight a guy like me. I know I’m dangerous, I know I have the possibility to derail your career and I’m high risk. If you’re a real fighter, come and get some,” said Carrington.

“When it comes to the featherweight champions it’s eeny meeny miny moe, I’m not focused on one person. I just want a strap and whoever is in the way, they’re just gonna have to get it. It’s just a matter of time, I have to continue to build my image and brand to be able to put myself into that position. When the time comes anyone can get it. Luis Alberto Lopez, Rey Vargas, Raymond Ford, Rafael Espinoza, all of y’all can get it.”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].