Bruce Carrington went all eight rounds for the first time in his career.

It hardly showed as the unbeaten featherweight looked fresh and untouched in a near-shutout victory over Monterrey’s Angel Antonio Contreras. Scores were 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 for Carrington in the headlining bout of the ESPN+ preliminary undercard Saturday from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Carrington relied on his stellar defense to minimize the pressure applied by Contreras. The unbeaten prospect from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn blocked and slipped straight right hands and then would counter with combination punching.

Contreras was never discouraged with the inability to crack the tight guard of Carrington, as he continued to throw right hands with hopes of landing a game changer. Carrington kept the fight at his desired range and increased his punch output in the middle rounds. Contreras showed swelling around his right cheekbone, the result of Carrington’s jab on point for much of the night.

Carrington carried out his corner’s instructions to the letter in the eighth and final round. A power jab snapped back the head of Contreras but he continued to box when it was clear that a knockout was not on the horizon.

Contreras suffered his second straight defeat as he fell to 13-7-2 (7KOs).

Carrington stopped his previous two opponents but has now gone the distance in three of his last five starts as he improved to 9-0 (5KOs). Saturday marked his fourth fight of a productive 2023 campaign with at least one more fight planned before year’s end.

Headlining the show, Jared Anderson (15-0, 14KOs) and Andriy Rudenko (35-6, 21KOs) meet in a scheduled ten-round heavyweight contest.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox