Carrington Sees Off Palacios: Shu Shu Keeps His WBC Belt In Cleveland

• Bruce Carrington retains his WBC featherweight title with a unanimous-decision win over unbeaten Rene Palacios in Cleveland
• Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110, all comfortably for the champion
• Luke's verdict: a classy, controlled performance that proves Carrington belongs at the top of a loaded featherweight division

Bruce Carrington Does A Proper Job On Palacios

Right then, before the main event fireworks, Bruce Carrington took care of business on the Cleveland undercard. "Shu Shu" defended his WBC featherweight title with a clear, controlled unanimous-decision win over the unbeaten Rene Palacios, and the scorecards told the story: 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110. No drama on the cards, no daylight for the challenger.

Class Told Over Twelve Rounds

Let's not beat around the bush — Carrington is one of the most polished operators in the division and it showed. The Brooklyn man boxed behind a lovely jab, mixed his work to head and body, and never let Palacios settle into any rhythm. Palacios came in unbeaten and game, but he found out the hard way that being undefeated and being ready for a genuine world-class featherweight are two different things entirely.

Palacios Had His Moments

To be fair to the challenger, he never stopped trying and he had a couple of rounds where he backed Carrington up. But every time Palacios looked like building momentum, Carrington simply reset, tightened up defensively and picked him off on the way in. That is the difference levels make: the champion always had another gear to go to.

Where Carrington Goes From Here

Make no mistake, this was a statement in its own quiet way. Carrington is stacking up rounds, titles and clean wins without taking unnecessary punishment, and that is exactly how you build towards the biggest nights at 126. The featherweight picture is loaded, and Carrington has just reminded everyone he belongs right at the top of it.

My Verdict

Time to call it. Carrington was levels above a decent challenger and he never looked like losing. If you know, you know — this is a fighter being brought along beautifully, and a unification down the line is the fight to make. Palacios will be back, but tonight belonged entirely to Shu Shu.