Bruce Carrington: Naoya Inoue’s Punch Resistance Won’t Handle Featherweight Power

Bruce Carrington says Naoya Inoue’s punch resistance won’t be able to withstand the punchers like himself at featherweight if he chooses to move up in weight soon. Carrington believes that ‘The Monster’ Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs) is “too small” to deal with the larger fighters at 126.

Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) will be fighting for the WBC interim featherweight title against Mateus Heita (14-0, 9 KOs) in a 12-round fight this Saturday, July 26th, at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.

Carrington: Inoue Too Small

“His dad knows he’s not ready, and I don’t know if he’ll ever be ready,” said Bruce Carrington to the Sean Zittel channel, giving his thoughts about Naoya Inoue not being ready to move up to featherweight. “It’s not just about the fighting style. The man is small, and these guys at 126 are punching.”

It’s crazy for Inoue to wait much longer before moving up to featherweight because that’s a division that he’s going to need as much of his remaining youth as possible. Waiting until he’s 33 or 34 would be foolish.

“I don’t know if his punch resistance will be able to withstand the way that we’re punching up here at 126. It is a big difference. Granted, it’s only four lbs. It may seem that way, but it’s a big difference. Just the way I spar these guys at 122 and 126. The power is 100% different,” said Carrington.

Inoue’s Chin Deterioration

We saw in Naoya’s lastf ight against Ramon Cardenas that his chin is beginning to show signs of deterioration. If he were to move up to 126, he would have to be selective in who he fights to keep from getting knocked out.

“If he fought me the way he fought Ramon Cardenas, I genuinely don’t think him getting up from that knockdown that he had,” Carrington said. “I don’t think he would have lasted another round or two because I’m a finisher. When I get a guy down and hurt, I’m going to get them out of there.”

Inoue is an old 32, and it’s doubtful that he’ll have much left after he faces Murodjon
Akhmadaliev and Junto Nakatani. Those guys aren’t going to fold without knocking a few chips off of Inoue. If there’s anything left of ‘The Monster’ Inoue after those clashes, he’s going to want to stay at 122 to fight beatable opposition. He won’t want to go up to 126 to mix it with Carrington.

“If me and him were to ever fight, it would be a very tactical type of fight. I really don’t think he’ll be able to withstand my pressure and my punches,” Carrington said about Inoue. “Cardenas had momentum where he could have beat Inoue. He had the knockdown going for him, but then, Cardenas began throwing haymakers.”

There’s very little chance Naoya will ever fight Carrington with the time he has left in his career. He’s already being frozen out by the champions at 126. But if Carrington does capture a belt at featherweight in the next year or two, Inoue would pick one of the other champions. The only one that Inoue wants is WBA champion Nick Ball. He’s not interested in fighting WBO champion Rafael Espinoza for obvious reasons. He’s too big.

Inoue Freezes From Hooks

“Inoue started to respect his power a little bit and started fighting on the backfoot a little bit,” Carrington said. “Inoue never liked to fight on the back foot. He never really likes to fight like that. He likes to fight on the front foot. When Cardenas would throw his combinations, it would freeze Inoue from time to time.”

Inoue was forced to freeze up when Cardenas threw his left hooks because they were so fast and powerful. The ones that did land bothered Inoue, but he took all of them well except for the one that dropped him in round two.

“If you are able to maintain that level of respect, you will be able to have your way with Inoue. Cardenas let it through. I think he got too caught up in trying to get that one-punch knockdown again. It was done so poorly, and Inoue showed his championship edge,” said Carrington.

What Carrington is failing to say is that Cardenas only had a left hook and nothing else to his game. His right hand was nothing, and had no punch variation to keep Inoue from neutralizing his offense. If he had more tools, he’d have knocked out Inoue for sure.

“Me, I would not fall for that. I know to keep my foot on the gas and apply that pressure. One round after the next, he’s going to fold,” said Carrington.

Ramon Cardenas fought like a madman after he dropped Inoue in round two. He started throwing wild left hooks, missing badly, and eventually Inoue got him out of there in the seventh round.