Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) made it look embarrassingly easy, knocking out previously unbeaten WBC & WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs) in the eighth round in a fight that was never competitive for an instant on Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Fulton, 29, was dropped twice in round eight by Inoue, and the fight was halted after the second knockdown. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:14.
Inoue controlled the fight with his powerful jab, catching the slow, timid-looking Fulton all night.
With things looking bleak for Fulton, he tried to press the attack on Inoue in the sixth, and he began taking a lot of punishment from the Japanese star.
In round eight, Fulton was stunned by a right hand from Inoue, and dropped by a massive follow-up left to the head. Fulton then dragged himself off the canvas, looking weary and beaten.
When the action resumed, Fulton attempted to make a run for it, but Inoue closed the distance immediately and flurried him in the corner with ten consecutive headshots.
The final left hand of the flurry from ‘Monster’ Inoue caused Fulton to sink to the canvas at the same instant the referee was halting the fight.
Robeisy Ramirez stops Satoshi Shimizu
– In a masterclass performance, WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-1, 8 KOs) crushed fringe contender Satoshi Shimizu (11-2, 10 KOs), stopping him in the fifth round in the chief support bout on the Fulton vs. Inoue card.
Robeisy appeared to be toying with Shimizu in rounds one through three, but in the fourth, the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist exploded on him with a flurry late in the round. Shimizu just barely made it out of the round without being stopped.
In the fifth, Robeisy, 29, nailed attacked the tall 5’11” Shimizu with repeated uppercuts thrown rapidly one after another that bludgeoned the 37-year-old to the canvas. When he got back up, Shimizu’s nose was gushing blood, and he looked in bad shape.
Smelling blood, Robeisy attacked with an all-out assault, riddling hurt Shimizu with a storm of heavy shots to the head, with everything landing.
Seeing that Shimizu’s situation was dire, referee Ramon Pena stepped in to wave it off. The time of the stoppage was 1:08 of round five.
Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is banking on his power carrying up to the 122-lb division to enable him to defeat unbeaten unified WBC & WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen ‘Cool Boy Stef’ Fulton Jr (21-0, 8 KOs) tonight at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. If Inoue’s power does carry up, Fulton could be in for a world of hurt in their 4:30 a.m. ET/1:30 a.m. PT event on ESPN+.
In a real gem on the undercard, WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (12-1, 7 KOs) makes a defense against the big puncher, #12 Satoshi Shimizu (11-1, 10 KOs), in a 12-round fight.
Inoue believes his power will carry up to 122 lbs
“I’ve been talking to people that have been working with Fulton in LA, and they marvel at his mastery of defense, but also very much a Philadelphia fighter. He’s game; he’s a dog,” said Mark Kriegel to Top Rank Boxing.
“My concern for him would be middle in, which exposes him to the equalizer here. That left hook, especially to the body of Naoya Inoue. Inoue is an institution over there. Kambosos was a rising star at the time.”
“When I watch him on film, he’s tactically sound; he’s the bigger guy, and if he can take Inoue’s shots and if he can find a way to close distance on him, tie him, rough him up because Inoue has never faced a type of guy that has the skill that Fulton has,” said Tim Bradley.
“He has never faced anyone with the type of length and reach that he has, a guy that knows how to control and negate reach. That fight there has me intrigued for this fight because I’m wondering once Fulton gets in there and Fulton fills that power, feels that strength of him on the inside, how is he going to react to that,” said Bradley about Inoue.
“This is his first shot at 122 lbs. He’s never fought a fighter at 122. This is his first, and he’s picking on the best guy. Do you want to know why? Because he believes his power will transcend up to 122 lbs,” said Bradley.
“That’s the danger zone, and we’ve seen Inoue win fights with the left to the body before,” said Joe Tessitore. “Fulton is the naturally bigger man, especially at 122 lbs. To Mark’s point, he’s versatile. He has shown that he can fight on the inside and win fights and go to the body.
“He has shown that he can box on the outside and use distance. He’s shown that he can use a volume punching attack, and he’s been in fights where there were 1000 punches thrown. He’s a very talented, high-level world champion.”
Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is banking on his power carrying up to the 122-lb division to enable him to defeat unbeaten unified WBC & WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen ‘Cool Boy Stef’ Fulton Jr (21-0, 8 KOs) tonight at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. If Inoue’s power does carry up, Fulton could be in for a world of hurt in their 4:30 a.m. ET/1:30 a.m. PT event on ESPN+.
