By David Finger at ringside
NABF and WBO Intercontinental featherweight champion Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, 125.3, made a statement in a WBC featherweight eliminator as he made quick work of Texcoco Mexico’s Jose Enrique Vivas, 125.8. Carington would stop the Mexican inside of a minute in round three. Vivas was troubled early by the jab and counterpunching of the Atlanta, Georgia native. But he continued to try and press the action and close the gap. But the beginning of the end came just past the halfway point of round two when a pair of right hand followed by a right uppercut and then a straight right dropped Vivas. The Mexican rose on wobbly legs. A vicious barrage upstairs had referee Raul Caiz Jr. considering waiving the fight off then and there but Carrington either punched himself out or decided not to take an unnecessary risk and eased up on the gas. That is, until the ten second warning, which prompted Carington to fire off a right uppercut at the bell that landed right at 2:59 of the round. Vivas, to his credit, tried to press the action in round three but it was clear he was still somewhat rattled from the previous round. Nonetheless he seemed willing and able to continue. But when a left hook landed at 0:53 of the third round referee Caiz decided the bludgeoning was not worth the risk to Vivas and waved the fight off. With the win the #1 ranked Carrington almost certainly sets himself up for a world title fight in his next fight as he sees his record now stand at 15-0, 9 KOs. Vivas goes back to the drawing board with a record that now stands at 23-4, 12 KOs.
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One of the hottest prospects in boxing continued to turn heads as junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas, 138.6, destroyed tough journeyman Giovannie Gonzalez, 138.3, by way of knockout at 2:08 of round two. There was few who questioned that Vargas would emerge victorious, but some wondered if the gritty Gonzalez could take Vargas into the later rounds. But Vargas dominated from the opening bell and scored a devastating knockdown halfway through round two when a right uppercut followed by two right hands landed for Vargas. The three-punch combination was punctuated with a picture-perfect left hook that sent Gonzalez to the canvas on his back, where he remained for over ten seconds. With the win Vargas, who is scheduled to return to the ring on May 4th, improves to 13-0, 11 KOs while Gonzalez sees his record drop to 20-8-2, 15 KOs.
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Undefeated welterweight prospect Tiger Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio made a huge statement in his first fight in Las Vegas since 2022 as he dominated the normally durable Kendo Castaneda of San Antonio, Texas. Johnson, 146, looked absolutely dominant en route to a fifth round TKO. Castaneda, 146.8, was game early on but it was abundantly clear that he had no answer for the speed of Johnson and Johnson capitalized on that advantage like a seasoned pro. A pair of knockdowns in round five prompted referee Raul Caiz Jr. to wave the contest off at 2:00 of the round. With the win Johnson improves to 15-0, 7 KOs while Castaneda falls to 21-9, 9 KOs.
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In the first fight of the afternoon to kick off the Mikaela Mayer v. Sandy Ryan fight card at the Fontainebleau Casino in Las Vegas, 18-year old former four-time national amateur champion Emmanuel Chance, 119.4, scored a shutout unanimous decision over San Bernardino’s Miguel Guzman, 118.7. Guzman was game and moved forward, but was simply not able to match the quick fisted Chance’s punch output. There were no knockdowns as Chance won the fight by a score of 40-36 on all three scorecards.
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In the second fight of the afternoon, junior lightweight prospect Dedrick Crocklem, 128.6, stopped Dionne Ruvalcaba at 2:50 of the opening round to see his record improve to 2-0, 2 KOs. Crocklem was in complete control of the fight but Ruvalcaba never seemed to be in any serious trouble at any point in the fight and had been punching back when the referee stepped in and waved off the fight with ten seconds remaining in the opening round. Ruvalcaba’s record falls to 2-2, 1 KO.
