By Chris Williams: WBA & WBC super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton weighed in at 121.9, and challenger Naoya Inoue weighed 121.7 lbs at Monday’s weigh-in for their fight this Tuesday, July 25th, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ at 4:30 a.m. ET/1:30 a.m. PT.
(Credit: Naoki Fukuda)
We don’t know how the hand wrap issue controversy will play out, as Fulton’s trainer complained about the excessive amount of tape that Inoue has used when having his hands wrapped.
According to Tim Bradley of ESPN, Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) uses an illegal “double-stacking” technique, forming a cast.
Tim says this allows Naoya Inoue’s punches to “intensify by x 10” when he lands his shots on his opposition. That would explain why Inoue has been knocking out so many of his opponents.
Bradley doesn’t understand why Inoue has been allowed to use the illegal double stacking for his hand wraps.
WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez weighed in at 124.7 lbs, while challenger Satoshi Shimize weighed 125.7 lbs for their 12-round co-feature bout.
Complete weights
• Stephen Fulton Jr. 121.9 vs. Naoya Inoue 121.7
• Robeisy Ramirez 125.7 vs. Satoshi Shimizu 125.7
• Kanamu Sakama 107.5 vs. Ryu Horikawa 107.8
• Yoshiki Takei 118.8 vs. Ronnie Baldonado 117.5
Bradley: Naoya Inoue double-stacks hand wraps
“Also on that card on Tuesday morning is Robeisy Ramirez against Satoshi Shimizu. So that is a WBO featherweight defense for Ramirez. That’ll be the first defense of his title. Remember, he defeated on April 1st,” said Joe Tessitore to ESPN.
“We have four fights coming your way. This is early Tuesday morning on ESPN+. That’s going to get going at 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time from Tokyo, Japan. We believe the Inoue-Fulton fight should be coming your way around 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, but it’ll be made available immediately, the full broadcast on ESPN+, Fulton vs. Inoue.
“There was something that came out in the lead-up to this fight, and that was Stephen Fulton and his camp claiming that there is a major safety concern with the way that Naoya Inoue puts forth his tape.
“They say he stacks his tape, that there is excessive tape, and when it’s all said and done, his wraps create a cast-like substance with the way that they stack it.
“For the record, he’s fought in the stage of Nevada, and it has been approved. He has fought numerous times in Tokyo and throughout Japan, and that has been approved by the Commission,” said Tessitore.
“You can’t put take directly on the skin,” said Tim Bradley. “What you have to do is put a little bit of gauze around, and you’re able to put some tape there. Then you can do is put some gauze over it and some tape.
Inoue “building a cast”
“What Inoue is doing is somewhat building a cast around his hand with tape, which is illegal. You can’t put it on the bare skin, and after I watched that video, I said, ‘My God, that’s a lot of tape that he’s putting around to protect his hand,'” said Bradley about Inoue.
“Then you’re going to put gauze and more tape, and gauze again and more tape. That’s called double-stacking. You cannot do that in boxing. I don’t know who let him get away with that in Nevada or wherever he fought. It’s not right. I’m sure his punches intensify by x 10 when he hits his opponents. There’s no doubt about it,” said Bradley.
“Are you accusing Naoya Inoue of cheating?” said Mark Kriegel.
“I’m not accusing him of cheating. I’m saying it’s illegal, but they let him fight with it,” said Bradley. I’m glad that Fulton’s camp is aware of it, and they’re not going to allow it to happen.”
“His [Fulton] trainer has said that we’re not going to allow him to step in the ring if that happens,” said Bernardo Osuna.