The boxing world didn’t take long to respond. Fans immediately questioned both the timing and tone of the comments, mainly because the fighters aren’t even in the same division. Inoue is the undisputed champion at 122 pounds and has not indicated that he will move to featherweight anytime soon. For many fans, Carrington is talking about a fight that can’t happen now.
Fans also pointed out the gap in performances between the two fighters. Inoue is a multi-division world champion and widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the sport. Meanwhile, Carrington only recently won his first world title.
Carrington won the WBC featherweight belt with a win over Carlos Castro. The fight drew mixed reactions as Carrington was hurt during the fight before recovering to secure the victory, which only added to the criticism over his comments on Inoue.
Many fans think Carrington has a lot of work to do at 126 pounds before he starts acting like a gatekeeper for Inoue.
Some see the comments as an attempt to drum up interest in a future fight, while others see it as premature.
You can’t really blame Carrington for trying to bait Inoue into a fight. The financial benefit will be enormous for anyone with featherweight. Still, some fans have noted that Carrington hasn’t shown the same level of interest in unification fights with WBO champion Rafael Espinoza or IBF titleholder Angelo Leo, who are both active champions in the same division.
Inoue has not commented publicly and remains focused on his run at super bantamweight. For now, the bout exists only in discussion, and Carrington will need more wins at featherweight if he wants the boxing world to take the idea seriously.
