By Adam Baskin: Promoter Eddie Hearn says there are “no obstacles” in making the undisputed fight between unbeaten IBF/WBA super bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev and WBC/WBO champ Stephen Fulton Jr. next in a four-belt championship.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn wants it, and his fighter Akhmadaliev (11-0, 8 KOs) should be ready to take the clash as soon as his injured left heals up from his impressive 12th-round knockout win over Ronny Rios last Saturday night at the Techport Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
As long as the promoters for the two fighters don’t block the fight, this is a match-up that must be made. Until Naoya Inoue moves up to 122, Akhmadaliev vs. Fulton Jr. is the best fight to be made at super bantamweight.
Inoue will likely be moving up after he becomes undisputed at 118. He only needs the WBO belt held by Paul Butler to accomplish that task.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Akhmadaliev fought with one hand last Saturday night in his title defense against #1 WBA Ronny Rios. From the second round, the southpaw Akhmadaliev, 27, used only his hand to jab Rios.
In the 12th, Akhmadaliev nailled Rios with hard shots with lefts & rights to the bread basket, hurting him and sending him to the canvas. After Rios bravely climbed off the deck, Akhmadaliev finished him off with several big punches that saused the referee to step in and wave it off.
No mandatory’s right ? Let’s make this happen https://t.co/r8V01mJudJ
— 100 Billion (@coolboysteph) June 26, 2022
“Easy work. Serious note we need to be undisputed by end of the year,” said Fulton.
The unbeaten WBC/WBO super bantamweight champion Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) recently defeated former IBF/WBC 122-lb champion Danny Roman by a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision earlier this month on June 4th at the Armory, Minneapolis. The fight was shown on Showtime.
What could get in the way of a fight between Akhmadaliev and Fulton is the network issues. Fulton fights on Showtime, whereas Akhmadaliev is with DAZN. Unless those networks can agree to a deal, we might not see this excellent fight.
Fulton Jr. has looked outstanding recently with solid wins over Roman, Brandon Figueroa, Angelo Leo, Arnold Khegai, Isaac Avelar, and Paulus Ambunda.
Akhmadaliev would have the power advantage over Fulton, but he would be giving away hand speed against the slick right-handed fighter.
In the 2016 Olympics, Akhmadaliev struggled with the skills of Ireland’s Michael Conlan, losing a three-round decision.
Although Akhmadaliev got to Conlan in the third round to knock him down hard, he ran out of time and was unable to finish the job.
