Naoya Inoue next fight: Carrington open to clash after Junto Nakatani win

WBC featherweight champion Bruce Carrington has said he would gladly defend his belt against Naoya Inoue, who is weighing a move to 126lbs ahead of a planned 2027 fight with Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez.

Naoya Inoue could be offered the chance to become a five-division world champion after WBC featherweight titleholder Bruce Carrington said he would happily defend his belt against the Japanese star.

Inoue, 33, has been teasing a move up to 126lbs and may now favour an immediate world title shot over waiting for a potential mega-fight with Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez. He is looking to return in February or March next year.

The undisputed super-bantamweight champion has not fought since May, when he retained his belts with a unanimous decision win over Junto Nakatani, arguably the best victory of his career. He said afterwards that he would not box again this year, with the plan being to prepare for a 2027 showdown with Rodriguez at 122lbs.

Rodriguez became a three-division world champion in June when he stopped Antonio Vargas in the sixth round to take the WBA bantamweight title. He could face WBO champion Christian Medina in a unification fight later this year before any meeting with Inoue.

Carrington told FightHype that he would love to fight Inoue, describing him as one of the greats of the sport and one of the best pound-for-pound boxers, and said he saw no reason not to want the fight.

The unbeaten American made the first defence of his WBC title in July, outpointing Mexican challenger Rene Palacios by unanimous decision.

READ NEXTMVP challenges Floyd Schofield's WBA lightweight title win over Lucas BahdiRead the next story →

Every UK fight result and what's next, every Friday. Get the free UK fight briefing

Add Combat Sports UK as a preferred source on Google