Stephen Fulton v Naoya Inoue 25th July 2023

[Ron Swanson]

Inoue is p4p #1.

Have been saying this for a long time now. Even when people thought Ginger was it, he wasn't. Inoue was the real #1.

I agree on ability. On eye test. But we all get fights wrong so eye test can’t be too much of it. Who you have beaten has to be higher. And whoever wins Saturday is vastly ahead in quality wins. So I would have to have Saturday’s winner first, if clear. Feeling in my heart it will soon be Monsters spot.

[TIC]

just how good can naoya be? he wants to be undisputed at one twenty two by the end of the year. could we see naoya at featherweight next year? i'd like to see naoya fight luis nery after marlon tapales

[Ron Swanson]

just how good can naoya be? he wants to be undisputed at one twenty two by the end of the year. could we see naoya at featherweight next year? i'd like to see naoya fight luis nery after marlon tapales

Offense wise no limit. He’s quick, fast, smart, and can bang. Looks like he can throw every punch soundly. His limit is will he ever tuck that chin. Because even though he has a great chin, if you leave it up like that eventually you get separated from your senses.

[Spicoli]

Well didn’t make it but finally pulled over and caught replay in between drop offs in BF Treme . What an absolute tactical demolition from Inoue. Amazed me how early the realization of “writing on the wall” kicked in as Fulton was shut down at every turn. Power, foot speed, punch accuracy and all of the above you just saw Fulton physically run out of ideas and Inoue knew it was abundantly clear. Fulton turned up in 5th for last stand and caught him clean but the punch selection and return of Inoue is best in the game. That jackhammer jab is hell. You don’t get free shots and will pay a sapping tax in return for everything. Superb finisher too. Now he does pop his head high in spots when coming in off jab but feel like that’s more of giving it up rather than an unfixable. Without a doubt top p4p for me. And credit to Fulton for laying it all in the table and demanding the very best from both Inoue and himself as a champion. Best fighting the best let the chips fall where they will. Great event.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Wow! I rarely get that excited about fighters, because a loss is just around the corner for most of them. Right now I can say that Inoue is P4P the best fighter in the world and maybe the best fighter of the past 20 years and that includes the money man. This was a demolition and I have no idea who can beat this bloke. If he was an American and was fighting at Lightweight or Welterweight he would be hailed as an all-time great already. He's on his way to being one of the best little guys of all time as it is. Next stop...the Featherweights?

[Mark TKO]

Again I'm a bit out of the picture these days especially at the lower weights.

Who's around those weight classes for him to fight of note?

[TitoFan]

Wow! I rarely get that excited about fighters, because a loss is just around the corner for most of them. Right now I can say that Inoue is P4P the best fighter in the world and maybe the best fighter of the past 20 years and that includes the money man. This was a demolition and I have no idea who can beat this bloke. If he was an American and was fighting at Lightweight or Welterweight he would be hailed as an all-time great already. He's on his way to being one of the best little guys of all time as it is. Next stop...the Featherweights?

THIS... has been exactly my thought for a long time. Unfortunately, this is one of those inescapable facts of life. If you're from this side of the world, and fight at one of the more popular weight divisions... you have an automatic leg up on someone like Inoue, who basically has to wrench people's attention his way.

[Denilson3.0]

Man - Inoue is the greatest thing and most sublimely beautiful destructive force coming off Kanagawa since the Great Wave

By the way for anyone who missed the fight here's the highlights



But Rapper Meek Mill and Errol Spence Still has Scooters back





I'm actually annoyed that Inoue was THAT good. I let my heart rule my head and picked Fulton by UD but despite Fulton's great CV and resume he never passed my eye test.

He never looked great but then again neither did Bernard Hopkins so I was hoping Fulton would test him. I still think Fulton is better than he looked, was just terribly outclassed by a great fighter. It happens. To his credit, Fulton didn't go into survival mode. He actually stopped boxing and started trying to win via knockout. But he was just up against a guy with elite speed, elite timing, elite power, elite footwork, and elite ring IQ.

I still don't think Fulton is a solid baseline for the monster being an ATG great.

The comm crew was making Fulton out to be Sugar Ray Robinson

One thing that blew me away was the class of the Japanese crowd. They showed Fulton more respect in defeat for merely taking the fight than Americans would have shown him for BEATING Inoue. Dude got a standing ovation on his exit.

As for Inoue, you know it's shame that casuals know Ryan Garcia and Jake Paul more than Inoue. Also the finish was perfect too, glad the ref let Fulton get buckled and sink to the ground to remove any BS about a bad stoppage.