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