Former Bantamweight undisputed world and lineal champion, Naoya Inoue, has reportedly suffered injury during training which has forced the May 7th bout between him and Fulton to be postponed for the time being. While the two will are still set to face each other as normal, the original planned date has now been moved up, though Inoue’s team – or the organization promoting the fight – has left no indication as to when.
Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO’s), who recently dropped all his titles at Bantamweight to challenge Super Bantamweight unified champion, Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO’s), is now out long enough to warrant the fight being postponed. On his social media outlets, Naoya Inoue confirmed the injury he suffered through the messages he left.
“The title match that was planned to be held on May 7th is now called off on account of injury during practice.” Naoya Inoue stated on Twitter. “I apologize to Fulton and his team, and also to the fans who are looking forward to the match. I made this decision because I will not be able to perform in the best conditions, this was hard choice for me as well though. I’m struggling to recover and return to the ring again. Please wait for the best and exciting match we will have.“
Though Inoue currently ranks as the #2 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, Stephen Fulton has long been underrated given his skillset which has made him a threat at range and on the inside. Coupled with his enormously large punch output, Fulton’s performances in the ring have made him a viable threat to beat Inoue’s current unbeaten winning streak.
Despite having rather momentous fights in his division, Fulton has been unfortunate not to enjoy the same notoriety as many of his PBC stablemates who benefit from being at higher weight classes which garner much more attention. Once the fight with Inoue is rescheduled, he will likely be fighting abroad for the first time of his career, despite being in possession of two world titles and being regarded as the best in his division.
Though the two are now set to face off at a later date, Stephen Fulton is not expected to take a fight in the interim, and the two will likely face off in the middle of the year in June, or the late Summer in July or August. In the meantime, Inoue will continue to recover from his injury where after he is expected to go into training camp immediately once a proper fight date has been arranged.
