NEW YORK – Bruce Carrington didn’t get the type of stoppage Saturday night that appeared imminent early in his fight against Adrian Leyva.
Eventually, however, Carrington got his technical-knockout victory on the Artur Beterbiev-Joe Smith Jr. undercard at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Referee Sparkle Lee stopped the action after the fifth round of a scheduled six-rounder the Brooklyn-based boxer nicknamed “Shu-Shu” was winning handily.
Carrington improved to 4-0 and recorded his third knockout. Houston’s Leyva (3-3-1, 1 KO, 1 NC) lost inside the distance for the first time since his pro debut in May 2017.
“He was pretty tough,” Carrington said. “His style was a little unconventional. He had a little pop to him. … But I kinda saw he was ready to go. The last round I was really starting to get my rhythm anyway, when I was about to get into the last round. But they stopped the fight and I got out victorious.”
Leyva made the fifth round more competitive than any of the first rounds, but he didn’t land any punches that affected Carrington.
Lee took a close look at Leyva before the fourth round began, as did a New York State Athletic Commission physician. Leyva didn’t take as much punishment during the fourth round as he had taken in each of the first three rounds, but those three minutes were completely one-sided.
A jarring jab by Carrington caught Leyva just a few seconds into the third round. Carrington then clipped Leyva with a right hand about 50 seconds into the third round.
Carrington continued to land flush punches on Leyva throughout the third round. His right hand backed Leyva into the ropes with 23 seconds to go in the third round.
Carrington landed a left hook just before the second round ended that made Leyva lunge forward and hold him.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.