Naoya Inoue dominates Stephen Fulton to become unified super-bantamweight champion
- Planet Sport writer
- 25 July 2023
It took eight rounds for Naoya "The Monster" Inoue to beat Stephen Fulton by technical knockout and it often looked like the Japanese fighter didn't need to step out of second gear.
Inoue certainly lived up to his nickname against Fulton on Tuesday, spending seven rounds meticulously chipping away at his defences and stamina before stepping things up a notch in the eighth round.
He created an opening with a jab to the body before sending Fultong sprawling with a savage right to the jaw. To his credit, the America got up from that but the flurry of aggression that followed, with Fulton already shaky on his feet, convinced the referee to call the bout.
The win makes Inoue the unified WBC and WBO junior featherweight world champion in front of his home fans in Japan.
After the bout, Inoue admitted that he had been preparing for this fight for a long time.
"Everything I was thinking about was to fight [Fulton] this year," Inoue said.
With belts in hand, the Japanese fighter wasted no time inviting WBA and IBF world champion Marlon Tapales into the ring to challenge him to a fight with all four of their titles on the line, which the Filipino accepted and the pair shook hands.
The date of that fight is yet to be announced.
