Written by: Shawn Cross
This is a good idea.
Former Undisputed Bantamweight Naoya Inoue will face WBC and WBO Super bantamweight Stephen Fulton on May 7th in Japan. He trusted both fighters to fight this match. Why? For it is a terrible risk for every man. Inoue is called the Beast for a reason, but he goes up in weight to take on Fulton. Will his strength last? If not, he could be in big trouble, because Fulton is an excellent fighter to begin with. As for Fulton, he shows a lot of courage to see a man who is willing to take on Eno in Eno’s homeland.
At the age of 29, Inoue is ranked by Boxing from the inside as the Fighter of the Year 2022. In fact, the 24-0 fighter stopped all but three of his opponents from distance. Enjoy his impressive footwork and massive punching power and it’s clear why the man sits near the top of the heap in contemporary boxing. With world titles in three separate divisions, Inoue will occupy the rarefied airspace if he does better than Fulton this spring in his home country. Even in the era of so many weight classes, to capture world titles in four divisions is a unique and remarkable achievement.
On the other hand, the 28-year-old Fulton makes up for what he lacks in strength with a very impressive ring of wit. The fact that his resume is only 8 times a knockout shouldn’t give anyone the wrong idea. His last two fights were victories over notable rivals Daniel Roman and Branden Figueroa, respectively. The fact that he’s marching all over the world to fight someone as highly regarded as Inoue shows just how confident a Philly fighter is in his skill set. The term “anti-seizure” seems to not exist for the man who became “Cool Boy Steve.”
Again, this is a good idea.
