Former undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, who is 24-0 as a pro, is stepping up to super-bantam to challenge Stephen Fulton for the unified WBC and WBO titles on July 25, live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 29 March 2023 15:12, UK
Naoyo Inoue and Stephen Fulton's fight for the unified WBO and WBC super-bantamweight world titles has been rescheduled for July 25 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, live on Sky Sports.
The contest had initially been set for May 7 before Inoue reportedly suffered an injury during training, resulting in the fight being pushed back.
After becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion Japanese star Inoue, one of the most fearsome punchers in world boxing, is now moving up a division to take on a fellow unbeaten fighter in America's Fulton.
Philadelphia's Fulton puts his WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles on the line against Japan's pound-for-pound king.
The showdown pits two of the world's top fighters against one another, as Inoue aims to become only the fifth Asian boxer to win world titles in four weight classes.
Inoue, 24-0 (21), has gone 19-0 in world title fights with 17 of them coming by way of knockout.
His championship run started in 2014 when he knocked out Adrian Hernandez for the WBC light-flyweight world title.
He went on to rule the super-flyweight division with seven title defences, including a second-round stoppage over Omar Narvaez.
At bantamweight, Inoue became the division's first undisputed champion in a half-century, stopping Emmanuel Rodriguez in two rounds to win the IBF strap, outlasting Nonito Donaire in a 2019 Fight of the Year to add the WBA belt, starching Donaire in the second round of their June 2022 rematch to snatch the WBC title, and stopping then-WBO champion Paul Butler in the 11th round.
Inoue vacated all four bantamweight titles to move up four pounds for his shot at 'Cool Boy Steph' Fulton.
Fulton, 21-0 (8), turned pro in 2014 and defeated five previously unbeaten prospects in his first 12 bouts.
In January 2021, he defeated Angelo Leo to capture the WBO super-bantamweight world title before adding the WBC belt to his collection 10 months later with a majority decision over then-unbeaten Brandon Figueroa.
Fulton defended both titles last June with a one-sided unanimous decision over former unified world champion Daniel Roman.
