Naoya Inoue remains as one of boxing’s pound-for-pound superstars and the Japanese phenomenon may finally move up to featherweight this year. There, each of the 126lb champions are hoping to be selected as his opponent, but none more so than a newly crowned titleholder from the United States.
Inoue has ruled at light-flyweight, super-flyweight, bantamweight and super-bantamweight over the course of his 32-fight career, becoming undisputed at both 118lbs and 122lbs as one of just three multi-divisional undisputed champions in the four-belt era.
However, despite a legacy-defining showdown with Junto Nakatani on the horizon, many fans in the United States are keen to see Inoue fight on American soil and to do so in the featherweight division.
Now, after registering a knockout of the year contender in a world title win in his hometown, WBC featherweight world champion Bruce Carrington informed Sean Zittel that he would accept a fight with ‘The Monster’ over possible title unifications.
“It [the fight with Inoue] is very realistic now and I am super excited for what is to come. These next two years are going to be really special, we are going to be making a lot of noise and I think that it is right there, it is on the cusp of happening.
“Everything is really falling into place for me, man. I really want to be the first guy to do it, to beat Inoue, and then we are going to be on that road, superstardom level.
“[I would rather] a fight with him [than unifications], because with the unifications, I feel like I could still do that regardless, after [fighting Inoue]. I think that the fight with him is something that I want more, because it would just put me on that level.
“Me beating him would put me on a certain level, over the unification fights, honestly.”
Carrington then went on to explain why he believes that the interest in that bout should not be one-sided, declaring that Inoue should be seeking events across the pond in order to improve on his star power.
“He should have some interest in fighting in America as well, that will make him into an even bigger fighter if he becomes more successful with more fights here and builds his name.”
Should Inoue wish to debut at featherweight in the U.S. then Carrington sticks out as the obvious candidate and with his New York roots, a clash at Madison Square Garden makes sense for both men, providing Inoue comes through his meeting with Nakatani unscathed.
