Bruce Carrington defends his WBC featherweight title against Rene Palacios on Saturday, July 4, at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. The contest serves as the co-feature to Abdullah Mason vs Albert Bell.
- Carrington (17-0, 10 KOs) makes the first defense of his belt. The 29-year-old Brooklyn native claimed the vacant title in January, defeating Carlos Castro by knockout in the ninth round.
- Palacios (19-0-1, 10 KOs) of Mexico makes his first attempt to become a champion. The 25-year-old comes off a split decision victory over Sulaiman Segawa, also in January, which marked his successful U.S. debut.
See below what Carrington and Palacios had to say at the press conference on Thursday.
Carrington: His style is challenging, and I’m looking forward to it
“The performance went exactly how it was supposed to,” Carrington said on his fight against Castro. “We had a great training camp for that fight, and we executed everything we wanted to do. We were able to break him down and get the victory the way we did.”
“But right now, I’m just looking forward to this Saturday. My mind is focused on the opponent in front of me, Rene Palacios. He’s a good fighter. I like to challenge myself.”
“There were a lot of guys who didn’t accept this fight, but Rene Palacios took it quickly, and I respect him for that. I see that he fights with his heart on his sleeve. His style is challenging, and I’m looking forward to it.”
“There wasn’t really too much that I learned [in Castro fight] because it was something that I had already seen in myself that others just haven’t seen. I have that championship mentality. I’ve been through adversity all of my life. Just coming up from Brownsville, losing my brother, plenty of other things that I’ve gone through in life. All the losses that I put on myself, self-sabotaging and then praying to God and getting over those things. That’s the real journey and the fights in life.”
“So, me going through all of that, I knew I was gonna be able to go through something small like that inside the ring, conquer that, and then become victorious. So it was nothing to me.”
“It’s the Shushu show, man. We’re going to perform, we’re going to have a great time, and I can’t wait to see y’all.”
Palacios: We’ve seen his mistakes
“I feel happy and excited because the day is coming when I will fight for a world title,” Palacios said. “I think I was underestimated in my last fight. And I’m being underestimated again.”
“But I come ready and prepared for anything. Mentally, I’m coming in very strong. I had an impressive, spectacular and perfect camp.”
“I know July 4 is Independence Day here in the United States, and I respect that, but that night, Mexico will win.”
“Yes, of course,” Palacios said when asked if there are any errors he can exploit in Carrington. “Like with anyone, I think there are things he can improve and things we’ve seen from him. We’ve seen his mistakes, but we have to follow the game plan, just like we did throughout camp. We’re ready.”
- In the main event, Cleveland southpaw Abdullah Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) defends his WBO lightweight title in an all-Ohio showdown against Toledo’s Albert Bell (28-0, 9 KOs).
On the undercard, Cleveland’s Delante “Tiger” Johnson (17-0, 8 KOs) and Canada-based Mexican Christopher Guerrero (16-0, 9 KOs) square off at welterweight.
Plus, Deric Davis (11-0, 10 KOs) of Fort Washington, Maryland, and Carlos Ramos (18-4-1, 10 KOs) of Spain by way of Ecuador, battle at lightweight.