LAS VEGAS – Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington could not have picked a better time to return to the knockout column. 

The rising contender from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, became the first person to stop Jose Enrique Vivas, doing so in the third round of their ESPN+ preliminary undercard headliner. Carrington floored Vivas in the second round and then closed the fight out with a final left hook to force the stoppage at 0:53 of round three Saturday evening at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. 

“You never miss the ‘Shu Shu’ show because you never know,” Carrington said of the highlight reel moment. 

An explosive performance was needed given the stakes. Carrington, 15-0 (9 KOs), was extended the distance in his past two starts, but Top Rank still had designs of positioning him for a major title in his next fight later this summer. This win over Vivas came in a WBC title eliminator, and the 27-year-old could not have performed better to plead his case. 

The action was measured in the opening round, as Carrington sought to get Vivas within his desired punching range. The effort hit paydirt midway through the second round. Carrington fought off the ropes and connected with a blistering volley of right hand-dominant power shots. Vivas hit the deck for the bout’s lone knockdown but managed to beat the count and survive the round. 

“I just saw him opening up and got him doing exactly what I wanted to do,” said Carrington. “I was gonna get my shots on the inside and get him up out of there.” 

He did just that shortly after the bell sounded to begin the next round. 

Vivas was left in defensive mode while Carrington was on the hunt. A final left hook by the rising contender was enough to force the end of the fight – and the start of his journey as a title contender. 

Vivas, 23-4 (12 KOs), previously went the distance in defeats against former title challengers Joet Gonzalez, Eduardo Baez and Ruben Villa. The normally durable chin of the Mexican featherweight was ultimately no match for Carrington’s two-fisted power on this night.

Saturday’s win puts Carrington on a direct path toward two-division and reigning WBC featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton, 23-1 (8 KOs). 

That was just one name on his list. 

“I want all the top champs, you already know. But let me specific,” stated Carrington. “Nick Ball? I want that [WBA] title. WBC, Stephen Fulton? Yeah I want that, I want that. Let’s get this work in. I want all that. I’m top five in all the sanctioning bodies. Let’s get this work in. Stop ducking.” 

Carrington has previously called out Top Rank stablemate and current WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinoza, 26-0 (22 KOs). That fight is also in his sights. 

“You know I’ll chop that tree down, too. I’ve been calling his name out since last year. Stop playing. You got to ask him the question, if he wants to fight me. I’ve been saying I want to fight. I’m not ducking nobody, I want this work. Come see me.” 

PRELIMINARY UNDERCARD RESULTS 

Emiliano Vargas continued his trend of quick hits in this town. 

The youngest of former two-time junior middleweight titleholder Fernando Vargas’ three fighting sons blasted out the normally durable Giovannie Gonzalez inside of two rounds. 

A left hook at the tail end of a four-punch combination put Stockton’s Gonzalez, 20-8-2 (15 KOs), flat on his back for the bout’s lone knockdown. A desperate attempt to beat the count was all but ignored as Vargas, 13-0 (11 KOs), already mounted a corner turnbuckle in celebration as the bout was stopped at 2:06 of the second round. 

The ending to the fight maintained Vargas’ perfect run of second-round knockouts in each of his four fights in his adopted hometown. The 20-year-old junior welterweight originally from Oxnard, California, has now also stopped his past four opponents. 

Delante “Tiger” Johnson fought with a sense of urgency that provided arguably his best performance to date. The unbeaten native of Cleveland, Ohio, blasted out San Antonio’s Kendo “Tremendo” Castaneda in the fifth round of their welterweight contest. 

Johnson – a Tokyo Olympics quarterfinalist for the U.S. – applied constant pressure from the third round onward, as Castaneda struggled to keep pace. That struggle transitioned to a forced submission in the fifth. 

Johnson landed a series of body shots, including a digging right uppercut to the midsection to force Castaneda to the canvas for the first of two times. Johnson went right back to the body and came back up top with a pair of left hooks to floor Castaneda, now 21-9 (9 KOs), for a second time. The fight was immediately stopped at 2:00 of the fifth round. 

Johnson, now 15-0 (6 KOs), picked up his first stoppage in more than a year. The 26-year-old prospect went the eight-round distance in each of his past two contests. 

Dedrick Crocklem, 2-0 (2 KOs), made even quicker work with his second opponent than was the case in his three-plus-minute pro debut earlier this year. The 20-year-old from Tacoma, Washingon stopped Dionne Ruvalcaba, now 2-2 (1 KO), at 2:06 of the opening round.

Emmanuel Chance enjoyed a successful pro debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Miguel Guzman, 1-1 (1 KO). All three judges scored the contest 40-36 in favor of Chance, 1-0 (0 KOs), an 18-year-old former amateur standout from East Orange, New Jersey.