Bruce Carrington’s next fight will come with far more than interim status on the line. His scheduled clash with Carlos Castro has now been upgraded to a bout for the vacant WBC featherweight title, set for January 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 12-round contest will serve as a key supporting fight to the Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson DAZN pay-per-view main event.
Carrington currently holds the WBC interim 126lbs belt, which he won with a points victory over previously unbeaten Mateus Heita at MSG Theater. Under normal circumstances, he would have been elevated automatically after Stephen Fulton vacated the full title, but the WBC instead chose to declare the championship vacant and put it up for grabs in this already scheduled matchup.
Fulton’s exit from the division followed his failed weight cut for a challenge of O’Shaquie Foster’s WBC junior lightweight title, effectively ending his time at featherweight.
Carlos Castro enters his first major world title fight despite having shared the ring with elite opposition. All three of his career defeats came against former champions, including a split decision loss to Luis Nery, a stoppage defeat to Brandon Figueroa, and a narrow points loss to Fulton in which Castro scored a knockdown but still fell short on the cards. That defeat proved especially costly, as Fulton moved on to win the WBC title in his next outing.
Learn more about Stevenson vs. Lopez event here.
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