Bruce Carrington called out Japanese star Naoya Inoue last Saturday night after his eighth-round TKO win over his hapless fill-in replacement opponent Bryan De Gracia at MSG in New York City.
Moments after stopping the 30-year-old Panamanian De Gracia (29-4-1, 25 KOs) in round eight, Carrington (12-0, 8 KOs) leaned over the top rope and bowed to Naoya Inoue in the crowd, who then left the arena moments after.
Inoue’s Hesitation to Move Up
The 31-year-old Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), who currently holds all four belts in the weight class just below the featherweight division [126] at super bantamweight [122] was interviewed before the fight, and he said he’s not ready to move up yet.
“When I’m ready to go up in weight and when my body is ready,” said Naoya Inoue to Top Rank Boxing before the Carrington-De Gracia fight if he’d be interested in moving up to 126 soon.
Given the way Inoue spoke, it doesn’t look like he’s planning on moving up to featherweight to mix with the sharks like Carrington, Nick Ball, Luis Alberto Lopez, and Rafael Espinoza anytime soon, if ever.
Inoue’s Vulnerability at Higher Weight Class
Inoue, 31, is beginning to show his limitations as a fighter after capturing the four belts at 122 against vulnerable champions and struggling in his last two fights against Luis Nery and Marlon Tapales.
Nery had Inoue on the deck in the first round of their fight last money on May 6th in Tokyo. Three years earlier, Brandon Figueroa easily handled that fighter. Inoue has a good thing going on fighting at super bantamweight, where the talent pool is weak with no one a threat to beating him.
Featherweight’s Dangerous Waters
That would change for Inoue if he moved up to 126, where he would have to swim with the sharks in a division that is teaming with dangerous predators that would look at the Japanese star as food.
Inoue could potentially lose to four or five of the top fighters in the featherweight division if he moved up and chose to fight them all rather than being maneuevered against the lesser fighters.
It would be wise for the 27-year-old Carrington not to pin his hopes on a fight with Inoue in the future, as it seems unlikely.
Carrington’s Future Prospects
Instead, Carrington should focus on going after one of the featherweight champions:
- Luis Lopez – IBF
- Rafael Espinoza – WBO
- Nick Ball – WBA
- Rey Vargas – WBC
“It’s interesting that he came to watch. He’s leaving right now, so obviously he came to watch me. I definitely want to make that fight happen soon,” said Carrington to ESPN in an interview, saying he wants to fight Naoya Inoue following his eighth-round TKO win over De Gracia.
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