Inoue-Carmona Discussed For 4th Quarter of 2015

By Jake Donovan

David Carmona could very well be on his way to a third title shot, but such a path is by no means as final as some outlets are suggesting to be the case. The 24-year old from Mexico is being groomed as the challenger of choice for Naoya Inoue's eventual ring return later this year, though a fight that still has to clear a number of hurdles before being made official.

Telemundo announcers suggested such a fight during Friday's live boxing event from A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, Florida. The fight is not a done deal, as several hurdles remain, including the exact timeline for when Inoue plans to fight, regardless of the final chosen opponent.

The unbeaten boxer from Japan is coming off of an incredible 2014 ring campaign that saw his being recognized by BoxingScene.com as Fighter of the Year. Wins over Adrian Hernandez and Omar Narvaez saw Inoue earn two major titles in as many weight classes in a span of less than nine months.

The latter win came late last December, with Inoue tearing through Narvaez—a long-reigning titlist from Argentina—in just two rounds. The feat allowed Inoue (8-0, 7KOs) to become a two-division champ by just his eighth pro fight.

However, it also came with its share of damage. Inoue has sat out all of 2015 thus far while recovering from hand surgery.

His extended absence prompted the World Boxing Organization (WBO) to sanction an interim title fight between Carmona and Philippines' Walter Parrenas, with the winner to become Inoue's mandatory challenger upon his return.

The sanctioning body effort was for naught, as the July 4 junior bantamweight clash in Mexico ended in a 12-round draw.

Despite the stalemate, Carmona's handlers have lobbied to secure a title shot on the strength of his still serving as the highest rated challenger. As much was mentioned during a recent edition of Boxeo Telemundo, during Ricardo Rodriguez' 10-round win over Daniel Lozano.

Carmona owns wins over both fighters, each coming during the Telemundo 115 lb. tournament, with the main goal of establishing a WBO title challenger. The tournament finals saw Carmona take a 10-round decision over Lozano to earn what became an interim title opportunity.

His team now hopes for a shot at the full title, in lieu of having to rematch Parrenas.

"We reached out to make the fight with Inoue, but it's not final," Felix 'Tutico' Zabala, Carmona's promoter confirmed to BoxingScene.com. "It's a possibility but nothing for sure and still needs to be reviewed by the WBO."

Inoue's incredible rapid rise has caught the eye of—among many others—American cable giant HBO, who recently added World Flyweight king Román Gonzalez to its stable. A dream fight between Inoue and Gonzalez is on the priority list for the future, but highly unlikely to be Inoue's first fight following a lengthy ring absence.

Gonzalez made his HBO debut in May, crushing former 108 lb. titlist Edgar Sosa in two rounds. His next fight will come on October 17, once again in chief support to unbeaten middleweight knockout artist Gennady Golovkin, who faces David Lemieux in a title unification bout on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Wins by Gonzalez and Inoue—neither of whom have official opponents for their next respective fights—could set up the mother of all little big men fights some time in 2016.

Until then, Inoue still needs to fight and it makes perfect sense to get a mandatory out of the way to free up and conflict in the future.

"We hope the WBO will allow David to go straight to the title," Zabala said of securing Inoue's services for his fighter. 

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox