‘I Belong’: Sulaiman Segawa Out To Prove Himself Against ‘Shu-Shu’

As the WBC silver belt was placed over his shoulder in the midst of the Las Vegas heat on July 13, veteran featherweight Sulaiman Segawa (17-4-1, 6 KOs) stood well aware of what he had just achieved. The 33-year-old southpaw defied the 7/1 odds set against him pre-fight, turning in a career-best performance to outpoint former WBO title challenger Ruben Villa (22-2, 7 KOs). Yet it wasn’t the shock delivered to boxing fans across the globe, nor the cash injected into the coffers of the punters that took a fly on the underdog, that Segawa feels the greatest impact was made. To him, the win signified something greater.

Having spent a decade toiling away in both his native Kampala and adopted home in the United States, bouncing between promotions and levels of opposition, the victory was an announcement in the Ugandan’s mind. Despite suffering his share of losses to get to this point, Segawa showed why he has held the long-standing belief that he deserves to stand among the best fighters in the world and on the sport’s biggest stages. “I feel as if I am like any other boxer, any other fighter at the top. I just need the right opportunities, that’s all, and to be in the right mentality, then I can prove myself,” he told FightsATW.

“It shows you that boxers, because you lose it doesn’t mean that you’re done. It’s like life. Boxing is like life. You don’t stop until you’re done. I belong there. That’s all I know. Sometimes, when you don’t get the right fights, they never bring out the best of you. Once you get the right fight, you try to bring out the best of yourself.”

Just 76 days after that memorable bout, Segawa, who sits at number three in the WBC’s featherweight rankings, will get the opportunity to fight the man one place ahead of him when he meets fast-rising contender Bruce Carrington (12-0, 8 KOs) at the Madison Square Garden Theatre on September 27.

Recipient of The Ring Magazine’s Prospect of the Year award for 2023, pundits and fans alike seem to think it is not a matter of if Carrington will become a world title holder, but when. Since making his professional debut in late 2021, the Brooklyn-born ‘Shu Shu’ has barely placed a foot out of line, stopping eight of his 12 opponents inside the distance and collecting a handful of regional belts in the process. The hot start has gone hand in hand with a strong push from the promotional entity, Top Rank, themselves seeing the star potential in the 27-year-old.

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As a result of these circumstances, Segawa will again enter as a wide underdog, but is unperturbed by the tag. Much like on that sweltering night against Villa, there is not only confidence but belief that skill and experience will hold him in good stead. “He’s just a tough fighter, tough kid. I’m just going to handle him the way he comes. That’s what I’m thinking in my head. As he comes,” Segawa surmised.

“I’ve been in a couple (more) rounds than him. He has less rounds because he has been trained to stop people in the earlier rounds. I feel as if I can go more rounds, so we will see as the fight goes on. I know he’s going to try and come for a knockout. So I have to take my time and try to avoid him a little bit. As I’m trying to avoid him, then I feel as if he might get tired.”

Cognizant of the elevated stakes, Segawa knows that the doors to greater fortunes will be unlocked should his hand be raised. Not only would it create a strong case for a potential shot at reigning WBC title holder Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs), but it may also lead to further big fights with the division’s elites. By the same token, however, he knows that these dreams will only become reality with a win. The focus, then, is on one thing and one thing only: beat Carrington by any means necessary.

“I think after the ‘Shu Shu’ fight, it will navigate how we’re supposed to keep going. Either we slow down a little bit, or we keep trying to hunt. We handle one fight at a time, so we’re waiting for this fight to get done. We don’t look past, no. We first want to handle it before thinking of anything else,” Segawa concluded. “I only think about my fight. I don’t think about anything else. My mind is only concentrated on myself. I don’t worry about what’s going to be there; I only worry about myself. That’s all.”

Liahm O'Brien

Liahm O’Brien is a boxing writer based in Australia. His work focuses on all levels of fighting, with interviews from boxers making their way in the game, to those competing for titles on major shows across the world. He has written for local online publications, The Inner Sanctum and Fight News Australia, and is a regular guest on The Unofficial Scorecard Podcast.

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