Coming off his resounding ninth-round knockout of Carlos Castro on January 31 at Madison Square Garden, adding another 126-pound championship to the WBC belt he won that night appealed to the unbeaten Brooklyn native more than any other option. Carrington also wanted to remain as active as possible in 2026.

Once Carrington realized fights against fellow titleholders Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Brandon Figueroa (WBA) and Angelo Leo (IBF) wouldn’t materialize, he happily accepted an optional title defense against undefeated Rene Palacios on July 4 in Cleveland. Assuming Carrington gets past Palacios, though, he will refocus on securing a championship unification clash before the end of this year.

Carrington (17-0, 10 KOs) and Mexico’s Espinoza (28-0, 24 KOs) are both promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. Rather than matching them next, Carrington senses it’s more likely he’ll fight Figueroa or Leo and Espinoza would battle the champion Carrington doesn’t box to set up a full unification bout between the winners.

“If I’m being honest, it looks like the way they’re planning it out is for me and Espinoza to meet at the end,” Carrington told The Ring. “That’s what it looks like, for it to be like a big crescendo, me and him having this dream fight. I think that’s what they’re trying to set up, so I’m totally not mad at that.”

Espinoza is The Ring’s No. 1 contender for an unclaimed championship. Leo is ranked second, Carrington third and Figueroa fifth.

Of the four featherweight champs, Carrington is the only one with a fight scheduled.

Leo (26-1, 12 KOs), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was scheduled to make a mandated defense of his IBF belt against Ra’eese Aleem (23-1, 12 KOs) on May 9 in College Park, Georgia.

Their fight was abruptly canceled because Las Vegas’ Aleem came in almost three pounds overweight, which will allow Leo to pursue other opponents for what would be his first fight since May 2025.

Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, upset Nick Ball (23-1-1, 13 KOs) by 12th-round technical knockout to win the WBA belt February 7 in Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, England.

“I feel like Figueroa is one of those guys [who wants difficult fights],” Carrington said, “and I think I’ve seen some interest from Leo, who wouldn’t mind getting in the ring with me as well. So, I have hope. It’s just about getting all the logistics right, money and everything right at this point because this is a business at the end of the day. So, yeah, when the time comes for the fight to be made, I’m gonna do the best job possible to make it happen.”

DraftKings lists Carrington as a 9-1 favorite over Palacios (19-0-1, 10 KOs).

DAZN will stream their 12-round fight worldwide as part of the Abdullah Mason-Joe Cordina undercard from Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. TNT will also televise the card headlined by Cleveland’s Mason in the United States as part of its new content partnership with DAZN.

Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBO lightweight title against Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs). Wales’ Cordina is the mandatory challenger for Mason’s 135-pound crown and a former IBF junior lightweight champ.