Naoya Inoue KOs Stephen Fulton to become four-weight world champion
Naoya Inoue viciously stopped Stephen Fulton to become the unified super-bantamweight champion in Tokyo, consolidating his pound-for-pound No.1 spot by winning gold in a fourth weight class.
The Japanese power puncher was forced to wait a few months for his showdown with Fulton after their initial date was moved back, but it didn't stop the pair from attracting a huge crowd to the Ariake Arena. Despite a size advantage, the American was unable to deal with his rival's speed and power and was put down twice in the eighth before it was waved off.
From start to finish almost without fail Inoue breezed through the rounds, winning all but one or two rounds on the scorecards before landing his stoppage. A masterful performance saw him circumvent Fulton's jab before landing his own power shots and stealing each exchange on the inside.
Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope for the Philadelphia native in the seventh, but it was quickly extinguished in the opening seconds of round eight as a phenomenal right-left combo sent him thudding to the canvas. Inoue didn't pump the breaks and ran through to land a powerful stoppage that solidifies him as the greatest in the world at this moment.
The home fighter had already been undisputed at bantamweight, and immediately now is in a position to do the same a weight up with just Marlon Tapales, likely less favoured than Fulton, in his way. His victory proceeds another pound-for-pound fight this Saturday in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.
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“Everything I was thinking about was to fight him this year,” Inoue said after the fight. “However, unfortunately, I got injured, and I had to postpone this fight. I am sorry to my team and Fulton’s team, but thank you so much for accepting this fight once again. I am so happy right now.”
On the undercard, featherweight world champion Robeisy Ramirez handily defeated Japanese challenger Satoshi Shimizu by TKO in the fifth round. Speaking after his fight, Ramirez said: "This was a tremendous experience. It is a blessing to be able to demonstrate my talent in a stadium full of people and in this part of the world.
"I am grateful and happy. The job is done. Now I set my sights on a world title unification clash. I am ready to go to Japan, Scotland, England, Mexico, wherever we have to fight. I will always be available to do my job"
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