THE MONSTER INOUE DEVOURS FULTON IN 8 ROUNDS; INOUE VS TAPALES NEXT (PHOTOS)
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 25 Jul 2023
Sensational Japanese superstar Naoya 'The Monster' Inoue totally dominated Unified WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan by controlling the fight the whole night before knocking down the highly regarded American master boxer at 1:14 of the 8th round with a lethal right straight before finishing with him off with a flurry of heavy-handed combinations seconds later forcing Referee Hector Afu to step in to save Fulton from further damage.
Inoue who is considered by many as boxing's best pound for pound fighter, thus became a four-division champion by capturing Fulton's two belts in the super bantamweight division. Inoue previously held the undisputed title in the 118-lb bantamweight division, the WBO belt in the super flyweight division and WBC belt in the light flyweight division.
Inoue, using his lightning speed and constantly cutting the retreating Fulton all over the ring, surprisingly outboxed the slick boxer from Philadelphia by controlling the tempo of the fight with his stiff jabs to the head and body never allowing the visiting American to take the initiative. By the third round blood drips from Fulton's nose courtesy of Inoue's constant sniping.
As the fight crosses the halfway mark, it was clear Fulton didn't have any answer to Inoue's onslaught as Inoue appeared to have everything looked easy, a surprising development as many considered the formerly unbeaten Fulton to be the baddest superbantam on the planet. Fulton's best round was the 7th round where he connected with three hard rights to Inoue's head but even that but was not enough for him to win the round as Inoue's workrate allowed him to pile up points with his jabs and explosive combinations. Then the fateful 8th round came where Inoue showed again why he is called 'The Monster' as he finished off Fulton with a shocking ferocity.
Referee Hector Afu of Panama stepped in to stop the carnage as Inoue pummels Fulton in the 8th round.
Naoya Inoue conquers another division.
The punch stats showed Inoue's total dominance as the Japanese star connected 114 to Fulton's 47 punches, 44 to 23 jabs and 70 to 24 power punches.
Inoue improved his undefeated record 25 wins with 22 stoppages winning his last 6 fights inside the distance. Fulton absorbed his first loss and dropped to 21-1-0, 8KOs.
Newly minted WBC/WBO superbantam champion Naoya Inoue poses with WBA/IBF superbantam champion Marlon Tapales of the Philippines at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan Tuesday. Inoue and Tapales will fight next for the Undisputed super bantamweight title.
INOUE vs TAPALES FOR THE UNDISPUTED TITLE
After the win Inoue told the ecstatic Japanese crowd that he wants to fight Filipino unified (WBA/IBF) champion Marlon Tapales next for the undisputed title which could could probably happen later this year. Tapales, who was in attendance, climbed up the ring to congratulate Inoue and the two pose together in advance for their upcoming unification fight.
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