In an awards ceremony held on February 8th in Tokyo, Japan, Naoya Inoue was chosen by a panel of the Japanese Boxing Commission and the Sportwriters Club as the ‘Japanese Boxer of the Year’. This marks the sixth time that Inoue won the award, and the fifth time he won the award consecutively since 2018. His achievement in becoming undisputed, the first Japanese champion to do so in the four-belt era, likely heavily contributed to that accomplishment.
In Japan, Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO’s) is already one of the most popular figures in the country – virtually the equivalent of the likes of Lionel Messi and Lebron James in his country, and with him recently having vacated all his Bantamweight titles to move up and face unified (WBO & WBC) Super Bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO’s) in his division, the Japanese superstar’s star only seems to only be capable of shining higher and brighter as he continues to trailblaze his career with new achievements and accolades.
Inoue, 29, first became a world champion in just his sixth professional fight, a year after he made his pro debut. He has since gone on to widely become considered to be the best active Japanese boxer, and has received international recognition with his positioning in the top 10 of the pound-for-pound rankings of both BoxRec and The Ring Boxing Magazine – the latter organization which still provides The Ring lineal title for boxers who are considered the #1 and #2 in their division.
28-year old American Stephen Fulton, has campaigned at Super Bantamweight since making his debut in 2014. He became a world champion for the first time of his career in 2021 after defeating a previously-unbeaten prospect like him in the then-reigning WBO champion, Angelo Leo (21-1, 9 KO’s). He went on to unify with another undefeated prospect, former WBC champion Brandon Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KO’s), roughly at the end of the same year, and has continued to defend both his WBO and recently-gained WBC titles once against a top-ranked Daniel Roman (29-4-1, 10 KO’s).
Fulton is best known for his slick and technical style of boxing, but the current Super Bantamweight unified champion has yet to truly make his mark in the sport even with his level of competition. A potential win against Naoya Inoue, one of the biggest superstars in his own country, would not only firmly boost Stephen Fulton’s international and domestic profile, but also likely put him amongst the top 10 of pound-for-pound rankings given Inoue’s own position on those rankings.
Fulton will prove to be staunch opposition to Inoue who has never fought at 122 lbs before. Though reports suggest a deal has already been reached between the two for a fight in the spring of 2023 in Japan (likely Tokyo), an official announcement has yet to be made.
