In a battle of two unbeaten world champions, you could see a shift from round one and the outcome wasn’t close. Naoya Inoue was dominant en route to a vicious eighth-round stoppage against now-former unified super-bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton, before shaking hands for a November undisputed matchup with newly-crowned WBA, IBF champion Marlon Tapales.
Inoue batters Fulton to break more records
- Inoue becomes the 22nd man in boxing history to become a four-weight world champion, and only the second who began their championship reign at light-flyweight – 108lbs – after Mexico’s Jorge Arce (1998 to 2011)
- 30-year-old Japan international is now 10-0 against world champions in his storied career, 20-0 with 18 KOs in title bouts while Fulton – who previously ruled the world’s 122lb division – suffers devastating first defeat 7,000 miles away from home as Inoue shows his elite skill
- Immediately after victory in post-fight interview, he beckoned for WBA, IBF titlist Marlon Tapales to join him in the ring and ESPN suggest November unification is already in the works after handshake deal
R8, 1:14 – Naoya Inoue bt. Stephen Fulton via TKO, wins WBC and WBO super-bantamweight world titles
Billed as the hors d’oeuvres before a big weekend of boxing, Fulton-Inoue in Japan’s Ariake Arena directly followed an impressive R5 stoppage win for WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez against Satoshi Shimizu in his first title defence.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum was thinking three steps forward and declared Inoue-Ramirez a future matchup at 126lbs on Monday, provided both continue on the winning trail. Less than half-an-hour after the main event, the ESPN analyst booth questioned how wise that would be – for a two-time Olympic champion no less.
The first thing you could tell, within a minute of the first bell, was the sheer speed disparity between Inoue and a fellow unbeaten titlist who gamely relinquished most of the champion’s privileges here. Inoue’s clean work was calculated and clinical.
The Monster landed the better work with his jab in round one, and started to open up early in the second as Fulton was clearly struggling to match his punch output.
Although he was defending intelligently enough to block a series of flurries under pressure near the ropes, the Philadelphia-born champion was being wobbled off-balance with rights, lefts and subtle movements he couldn’t counter quickly enough.
Recently inducted Hall of Fame boxer and two-weight world champion Timothy Bradley urged his compatriot to provide something in the form of resistance at the start of the third, obvious it was Inoue didn’t respect the power coming back his way.
The optics didn’t look good through nine minutes, as you could see blood trickling out of his mouth and body language negative.
Contrastingly, the home favourite had stepped up his output and was landing more while sensing hesistancy during their exchanges.
Fulton landed a nice overhand right, a minute into the fourth, but failed to follow that up with more single shots or combinations.
Instead, he resembled a standing target for sustained periods as he didn’t let his hands go or show a willingness to spoil the Japanese’ rhythm, getting teed off on, not using his legs like against Brandon Figueroa or Daniel Roman.
Fulton’s tentative approach punished in multiple ways
Fulton’s success was irregular, as Inoue’s confidence soared into the fifth and sixth with heavy shots continuing to land without warning.
His stab jab to the body worked well throughout and foreshadowed the thunderous finish a few rounds later, though the Japanese crowd loved the moment where he landed a four-punch combo while charging forward.
It just spoke to the 30-year-old’s comfortability in a fight many critics deemed a 50-50: he was picking punches and moments to sting Fulton further into his shell.
The CompuBox numbers had Inoue leading with a 93-33 punch connect advantage through six rounds, and things looked ominous midway into the seventh as he landed a digging body shot which Fulton couldn’t help but acknowledge.
Cutting the ring off and pressing the action, Fulton’s better moments were almost immediately overshadowed by another Inoue sequence.
The seventh was the 29-year-old’s best round in terms of punches landed, but still another one for Inoue. Mercifully, the punishment was over a round later – though the finishing chain of events was anything but.
A left to the body opened up his head, and Inoue – who promised pre-fight he would look for the knockout whenever there were openings – did just that.
He connected cleanly on a vicious right and followed up with a left, as Fulton was scrambling to stay on his feet but clearly falling while referee Hector Afu hurried into a better position, ready to step in.
A damaging barrage came seconds later, having beaten the ten count, as he was soon slumped in the corner and the Panamanian official thankfully waved it off.
Analysis, what’s next for both?
With a combined 45-0 record between them, this was always going to be a high-level battle of two world champions where neither wanted to surrender ground.
Fulton was guilty of biting more than he could chew, and perhaps in hindsight you can point to his knockout ratio as a reason why he wasn’t likely to prove successful.
Inoue has shown in the past, particularly during his first meeting with Nonito Donaire, that he can absorb punishment from hard-hitting opposition.
Here, he was unfazed by the clean punches coming his way – it didn’t help Cool Boy’s case that they were so fleeting and allowing Inoue opportunities to pace himself.
It would’ve been ideal for Fulton to pursue his quest to become undisputed champion before taking on this challenge, because that would’ve allowed him to stay more active while sharpening his skills. That’s easier said than done, mind.
In the end, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. He’s naturally the bigger man but was thoroughly outboxed by an adversary that looks set to do what he so dearly wanted, before potentially scaling even larger heights. Why not?
Tapales won a split decision against Murodjon Akhmadaliev on April 8 to claim two versions of the world title, but Fulton is still widely regarded as the best at 122lbs and has been campaigning at that weight his entire professional career (2014-to-present).
He’ll be wise to take a break, reassess options and survey the scene before another championship return – this doesn’t have the touch of finality it has proven for others who lost to Inoue. It won’t hurt any less, but perspective is paramount.
This is what happens when the best fight the best, someone has to lose – and there’s no shame in this defeat for Fulton, besides perhaps an inability to really let his hands go. Then again, Inoue didn’t give him an opportunity to do so.
Picture source: Getty Images
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