By Mark Eisner: Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) annihilated the light-hitting & surprisingly slow-looking WBC & WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs) in an eighth round knockout on Tuesday night to capture his fourth division world titlee at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue, 30, dropped Fulton twice in the eighth round, causing the fight to be stopped. The time of the stoppage was at 1:14 mark.
In the first knockdown, Inoue hurt Fulton with a right hand that caused him to try and flee. Inoue quickly pursued Fulton, dropping him with a left to the head. Fulton got up slowly, barely beating the count.
When the action resumed, Fulton retreated to the corner for a last stand, where Inoue buried him with a flurry of rapid-fire shots, sending him down to the canvas just as the contest was being halted. The punch that put Fulton down with a left to the head.
Undercard results:
- WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-1, 8 KOs) destroyed his overmatched challenger Satoshi Shimizu (11-2, 10 KOs) by a fifth round knockout. The two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy hammered the tall 5’11” southpaw Shimizu with uppercuts in round five to drop him. Bleeding badly from the nose, Shimizu got back to his feet and was flurried on by Robeisy, resulting in the referee Ramon Pena stepping in and halting the fight. The time of the stoppage was at 1:08 of the 5th. The uppercuts that Robeisy was hitting Shimizu were devasting. He’d been doing it the entire fight, but beginning in the fourth, Robeisy began unloading with machine gun-like uppercuts and hooks to the head of Shimizu, taking advantage of the Japanese fighter’s choosing to cover up in a high guard.
WBC/WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton Jr. will attempt to spoil the dream of Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue of using him to become a four-division world champion when the two meet tonight in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue is taking a considerable risk fighting Fulton rather than one of the other two champions at 122.
Inoue is using him to become a four-division world champion when the two meet tonight in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue is taking a considerable risk fighting Fulton rather than one of the other two champions at 122.
If Fulton beats Inoue, he’ll shock the world because he’s the underdog, and very few people believe he can win.
The time of the Fulton vs. Inoue fight will be between 7:00 a.m. & 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday morning, but the card is technically taking place at night in Japan. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ with a start time of 4:30 a.m. ET/1:30 a.m. PT.
Two-time Cuban Olympic gold Robeisy Ramirez defends his WBO featherweight title against Satoshi Shimizu. This fight hasn’t attracted much interest from American fans, and it’s easy to see why. Shimizu isn’t well known.
Robeisy could steal the show with an impressive performance against Shimizu because this fight is going to have a lot of action. Shimizu is a heavy-handed fighter that is going to be putting nonstop pressure on Robeisy that he hasn’t seen before in the pro ranks.
Fulton with difficult task
“This fight was easy to make, and you know why? Because both sides believe their guy is going to win. That’s the reason why this fight is happening,” said Tim Bradley to Top Rank Boxing.
It’s more than both sides believing they can win. This fight is happening is because it’s a huge payday for Fulton. Without the massive money involved, the chances of Stephen going to Japan to fight Inoue are slim.
“The fact that you’ve got ‘Cool Boy Steph’ actually saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to go over there [Tokyo, Japan] and fight this Monster in his home turf. This is Devin Haney-ish type of stuff that he’s doing here,” said Bradley.
Haney HAD to go to Australia for him to challenge then-unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. If Devin wanted a shot at Kambosos Jr’s belts, he had to go to Australia.
“Devin Haney was the last guy to go over to somebody’s country when he fought George Kambosos Jr. I don’t think a lot of people are dismissing Fulton, and the reason why is because they wonder how is he going to keep Inoue off of him.”
It’s going to very difficult for Fulton to keep Inoue off of him without earning his respect, using a lot of movement, and figuring out a way to deal with his power.
“Be a Monster, and he is a bit of a monster,” said Teddy Atlas on his Youtube channel when asked what Naoya Inoue must do to defeat Stephen Fulton.
“He’s undefeated, and he’s won titles in three different weight classes,” Atlas continued about Inoue. “He’s a God over in Japan, and he’s on my pound-for-pound in the top three.
“Against Fulton, he’s going to have to do what he normally likes to do. Bring the pressure, steady & consistent, and break down with that pressure in all the rounds. It’s not going to be a quick one, I don’t think.
“Pressure breaks people, and he’s going to have to wear down the very tricky, very clever defensive-minded Fulton, who is also a very good counter-puncher, and he’s going to have to go there [to the body]. Put water in the basement, as I always say.
“The head may move, and Fulton’s head does move, but they don’t. So, if you bang the body, you start to paralyze the head, and then Inoue can be the ‘The Monster’ and get what he wants.
“What I noticed on tape is that Fulton is going to try and keep separation and try to box and use separation to use his legs a little bit. He’s not a runner, but he’s a slick guy.
“At some point, he’s going to have to engage Inoue on the inside. At some point, the pressure will force that to happen, and he’s not a bad inside fighter.”