Naoya Inoue (29 = Ohashi), the former 4-group unified bantamweight champion of professional boxing, will challenge WBC and WBO world super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton (28 = USA) at Yokohama Arena on May 7th. Announced.
In the first match of the same class, he suddenly challenges the world and aims to become the second person in Japan to conquer the world’s four classes. On the same day, he attended a press conference to announce the match at a hotel in Tokyo.
In December of last year, Inoue defeated the then WBO world bantamweight champion Paul Butler (UK) by KO 11 times, becoming the ninth person in history and the first in Asia to unify four groups. In January of this year, he gave up all four belts and announced that he would switch to the super bantamweight division, ranking first in the WBC and WBO world divisions.
Aiming to unify 4 groups in 2 weight classes for the first time in the world, aiming to seize 2 group titles from Fulton.
Inoue, who made his professional debut in October 2012, won the WBC world light flyweight title in April 2014, and also won the WBO world super flyweight title in December of the same year. In May 2018, he became the WBA world bantamweight champion and achieved world domination in three weight classes.
In 2019, he won the bantamweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, a tournament that determines the strongest in the weight class. The strongest boxer who transcends) is the first Japanese to win first place in the ranking.
On the other hand, Fulton made his professional debut in October 2014 with an amateur record of 75 wins and 15 losses. In his 6-year career ending 20 years, he was undefeated with 18 wins (8 KOs) and defeated 7 undefeated fighters. His KO rate is not high at 38%, but his defense is outstanding. He’s a right-handed boxer who keeps his stance wide on both feet and hits a good left jab from mid-to-long distances to keep his rhythm.
In January 2009, he won the WBO champion Angelo Leo (USA) by decision and won the world title. In September of the same year, he also defeated the WBC champion Brandon Figueroa (USA) to become the unified champion of both groups. In June of last year, he also defeated former two-group unified champion Daniel Roman (USA), who defeated Jun Kubo and Ryo Matsumoto, by decision, proving that he is the strongest in his class.