Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton discussing a junior Featherweight title match

By: Sean Crose

If all goes well, 2023 will be remembered as a year where the big fights take place in the sport of boxing, a year where the best are constantly fighting the best. Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia, Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk, Errol Spence-Terence Crawford (though that person doesn’t look very promising), Vasyl Lomachenko-Devin Haney, Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol 2, these are all very good fights. probable expectations come true within the next 12 months or so. And now reports that Naoya Inoue could be dating Stephen Fulton in the spring have surfaced, thanks to the help of GAME. It’s exciting for the fans, frankly. And the fans certainly deserve a match of this magnitude after the end of 2022, where expectations of potential matches simply go up in smoke.

Without a doubt, the Inoue-Fulton is one of the best fights possible in the sport. Not only do these fighters have some of the best nicknames in all of boxing (“The Monster” and “Cool Boy Steph”), but neither of them have tasted defeat. And they already have enough world championship belts to fill the glass cabinet. Inoue has won 7 world titles in three different weight classes. He was last seen winning the undisputed bantamweight world championship in December when he stopped Paul Butler at 11th. Fulton, on the other hand, currently holds the titles. WBC and WBO children’s feather classes.

Of course, Inoue wanted to add those belts to her own impressive collection. After beating the entire bantamweight division, the 29-year-old Japanese boxer is aiming for bigger things. Philly’s Fulton, however, is no joke. Last seen in action past Daniel Roman in the spring, the 29-year-old is as sharp as when they entered the ring. Quick, precise and possessing excellent footwork, Fulton knows how to use a top-level battle plan and has the confidence and athleticism to execute it.

However, Inoue is something different. Like Boxing insider Warrior of the Year 2022, the man who passed his competition as a star attraction. As I wrote at the time, “in a career that spanned a little over ten years, Inoue of Japan became world champion in three weight classes and now has a 24 win streak. Furthermore, all but three of those victories have come in the gap. Inoue, as quite obviously, can hit. Hard. He also ended the show in a very dramatic fashion.

Something that Futlon, who seemed able to bravely come to Inoue’s hometown to face the man, might want to keep in mind.