Stephen Fulton v Naoya Inoue 25th July 2023
Naoya Inoue may have only just become undisputed bantamweight champion, but he is already targeting the weight division above.
Earlier this month, Inoue overcame the then WBO bantamweight champion, Paul Butler, with a brutal eleventh round knockout, to claim his title and become undisputed bantamweight champion.
This rounds off a terrific year for Inoue, who also knocked out four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire in June in the second round.
With that being said, the 29-year-old by no means sees his considerable success so far as job done.
Inoue’s promoter and Top Rank founder Bob Arum, revealed to talkSPORT that ‘The Monster’ plans to become a two-weight undisputed world champion in 2023.
“I think he’s going to decide to vacate the bantamweight titles, he has all four of them, and move up to 122lbs,” Arum said.
“Each champion there has two of the titles, so his goal is to not only to win the 122lbs title, but to unify it.
“I don’t see anybody beating this guy, he boxes beautifully and he’s a concussive puncher, especially at his weight.”
Inoue’s power is undeniable, as he has 21 knockouts in his 24 fight so far, but the question is whether his KO ability will carry as far as the super bantamweight division, having begun his career at light flyweight.
The men who will put that to the test are WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion, Stephen Fulton, who has a professional record of 21-0, 8 KO’s.
And, the other champion at 122 lbs is Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who holds the IBF and WBA straps and has won all 11 of his fights so far, stopping eight of his opponents.
There is no doubt that Inoue is one of the pound-for-pound greats of his generation already, but is the super bantamweight division a step too far? We’ll find out next year.
https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...champion-2023/
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Inoue v Fulton may not be the fight some casuals want, but it's a big fight the sport needs. They've all but tee'd it up for Inoue with auto ranking just need to see what Fulton does.
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Fulton is asking for it, it’s just a matter of what Inoue wants to do. It’s a pretty logical fight for Inoue, his weakness is keeping his chin up on a platter but Fulton doesn’t have a ton of power.
Really excited for this. Inoue is great, will be good to see him against better opposition to know how great. Fulton being by far the highest rated fighter he will have fought.
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Inoue has been p4p #1 since even when groupies had Ginger at #1. Just that many don't even acknowledge the lighter weights. Inoue has cleaned out his division without all of the shenanigans that could fill reams of paper in the "other guy's" case. So if going up in weight will get him the notoriety he deserves... so be it. Some of us have known about him for years. :cool:
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
i hope a stephen fulton v brandon figueroa rematch doesn't get in the way of a naoya v stephen fight
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TIC
I'm surprised this thread isn't full of replies
Fulton vs. Inoue is one of the best fights that can be made
Fulton the unified champ is travelling to Japan
Inoue is moving up a division to take on a unified champ in his first fight at the weight
Absolutely brilliant stuff
Michael Spinks stepped up a division to take on the champ Larry Holmes in his 1st fight at heavy
Rafael Marquez took on Israel Vasquez in his 1st fight at 122
What are some other examples of fighters stepping up to another division & taking on a champ in their 1st fight there, when both are near their best?
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Ezpz a perfect example of this is when Saul Alvarez heroically moved up to light heavyweight to defeat boxing legend Sergey Kovalev
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by
palmerq
Ezpz a perfect example of this is when Saul Alvarez heroically moved up to light heavyweight to defeat boxing legend Sergey Kovalev
You thought Kovalev was near his best?
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
A couple of years out but seeing as the world is 5000 years old that's bugger all, so close enough!
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by
palmerq
Ezpz a perfect example of this is when Saul Alvarez heroically moved up to light heavyweight to defeat boxing legend Sergey Kovalev
canelo jumped up two weight classes from his previous fight to face champion sergey for his first fight in the division
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by
palmerq
Ezpz a perfect example of this is when Saul Alvarez heroically moved up to light heavyweight to defeat boxing legend Sergey Kovalev
My suspicions have been confirmed. ;)
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
There aren’t many fights that I’m looking forward to more than this. In my opinion Inoue is the #1 Boxer in the World at the moment.
I don’t know a great deal about Fulton, but I know that he’s possibly the best in the division, so more power to Inoue for not trying to just pick off belts from weak champions.
Proper Boxing this is.
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Primo Carnera
I don’t know a great deal about Fulton
these three fights should get you familiar with stephen
stephen fulton v arnold khegai
https://youtu.be/Fur8aa0GwGE
stephen fulton v angelo leo. might need a vpn in some countries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i5XiYr1eJA
stephen fulton v brandon figueroa
https://youtu.be/2YfRYixUEj4
Re: Naoya Inoue plans to become undisputed super bantamweight champion in 2023
Stephen Fulton vs Naoya Inoue is boxing at its best as elite fight of pound-for-pound stars has been made straight away with both men in their primes.
Stephen Fulton vs Naoya Inoue has now been officially announced for May 7 in Yokohama, Japan and represents the sport of boxing at its very best.
The fight, which many fans believe is the greatest that can be made in the sport today, pits two of the elite fighters in the lower weight classes against one another.
America’s Fulton will be the defending world champion, with Inoue moving up to try and become a four-division king.
Inoue’s title campaign began in boxing’s second smallest weight class in just his sixth professional fight.
Back in early 2014, at just 20 years of age, he knocked out Adrian Hernandez to win the WBC light-flyweight (108lbs) world title.
Inoue made one defence of this belt before making his first move up in weight.
If he’d wanted to, the Japanese superstar could surely have won a world title in the flyweight (112lbs) division, but he instead took the opportunity to leap straight up to super-flyweight (115lbs).
Despite facing a bigger foe than he was accustomed to, Inoue stopped Omar Narvaez in just two rounds and won the WBO world title to become a two-weight king at age 21.
He sadly struggled to get the unification fights he craved in the division and, after seven successful defences, moved up again three years later.
In his first fight at bantamweight (118lbs), he proved once more that he would have no issue dealing with bigger opponents and knocked out Jamie McDonnell in the first round.
He then entered the World Boxing Super Series tournament in which he beat Emmanuel Rodriguez and Nonito Donaire to emerge as unified IBF and WBA world champion – a three-division king.
While the pandemic stunted his progress in 2020 and 2021, Inoue was determined to become undisputed and hold all four belts at bantamweight.
Last year, after Donaire won the WBC crown, Inoue rematched him and knocked him out in two rounds to take it.
Then, in his most recent fight, he stopped WBO champion Paul Butler in December to achieve his goal as undisputed king.
With his work at bantamweight done, Inoue vacated all four belts and announced his plans to move up to super-bantamweight (122lbs).
At present there are just two champions in the division.
Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev holds the WBA and IBF belts, while America’s Fulton owns the WBC and WBO.
Fulton announced himself on the scene in 2021 as he first won the WBO crown by outpointing Angelo Leo.
He then had his first breakout win by jumping straight into a unification fight with Brandon Figueroa and taking the Mexican’s WBC belt.
In his most recent fight, Fulton beat former WBA and IBF champion Daniel Roman in another impressive points victory.
The 28-year-old American is a magnificent boxer and will likely provide the toughest challenge of Inoue’s career to date.
The 29-year-old Japanese destroyer will still be favourite to emerge victorious, but Fulton could return home as a bona fide star if he retains his belts.
Despite all the aforementioned details, what’s perhaps most impressive about this fight is how it has come about.
It’s rare to see two elite pound-for-pound talents such as these meeting in their primes, let alone with a deal done so quickly and no messy public negotiations.
Fulton and Inoue have both made this fight happen and on May 7 they will deliver boxing at its very best.
https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...e-boxing-best/