Bruce Carrington TKO3 Jose Enrique Vivas ... New York featherweight Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) appears to be on the verge of a world title shot. At the Fountainbleu in Las Vegas, Carrington, the WBC and WBO #1 featherweight contender, handed Mexico's Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4, 12 KOs) his first stoppage defeat with a third-round finish. Vivas tried to suffocate Carrington with pressure from the opening bell, walking him down and pinning him to the ropes, but the Brooklyn native stayed composed and turned the exchanges in his favor, answering with sharp uppercuts and hooks on the inside.

 

In the second, Carrington flipped the momentum with a quick three-piece—right hook, left hook, right hook—that dropped Vivas. He poured it on with more offense, but Vivas survived the round. By the third, Vivas’ legs were gone. After Carrington landed a few clean shots, Vivas began to retreat, prompting referee Raul Caiz Jr. to step in and stop the fight at :53.

 

Carrington said. "Every fight is not going to be a knockout, but I’m always performing and do what I have to do. I just saw him opening up. He was doing exactly what I wanted him to do. That was part of the game plan. I wanted him to feel comfortable and open up. And then I was just going to get my shots on the inside and get him out of there."

 

"[WBA champion] Nick Ball? Yeah, I want that. [WBC champion] Stephen Fulton? Yeah, I want that. Let’s get this work in. I want all of ya’ll."

 

ADDITIONAL RESULTS

 

Junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) returned from an injured left hand and put that hand to good use, scoring a second-round knockout over Giovannie Gonzalez (20-8-2, 15 KOs). After flashing his speed, Vargas closed in, countered a jab with a right uppercut, then ripped rights around the guard before ending it with a left hook at 2:08.

 

In his debut in a new division, welterweight Tiger Johnson (15-0, 7 KOs) halted Kendo Castañeda (21-9, 9 KOs) in the fifth round. Johnson was catching and shooting early, but a counter right uppercut to the solar plexus in the fourth hurt Castañeda. He went back to the body in the fifth, scoring a knockdown with another shot to the same spot before a final flurry ended the fight. Time of stoppage: 2:00.

 

Junior lightweight Dedrick Crocklem (2-0, 2 KOs), out of Tacoma, Washington, scored a first-round TKO against Dionne Ruvalcaba (2-1, 1 KO), overwhelming him with relentless pressure and crisp counters to the body before referee Robert Hoyle stepped in at 2:50.

 

Top Rank has a new Mannie. Emmanuel Chance (1-0) had a strong pro debut, boxing circles around Miguel Guzman (1-1, 1 KO) en route to a clear points win in the bantamweight division. The 18 year-old Chance, from East Orange, New Jersey, was an amateur sensation before signing a long-term promotional contract with Top Rank. All official three scores were 40-36.