Justice was ultimately served.
O’Shaquie Foster pushed away the nonsense that came with Stephen Fulton unprofessionally blowing weight and delivered his finest moment to date in a lopsided decision win. Scores were 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109 for the two-time WBC 130lbs titlist Foster, who also claimed a secondary belt at lightweight with the win Saturday evening at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
The dynamics of this fight drastically changed barely 40 hours ahead of the opening bell. Foster had originally planned for the first defense of his second tour as a WBC 130lbs titlist. Those plans were sent to hell after Fulton – a two-division and current WBC 126lbs titlist – blew weight by 2lbs. An emergency call to the WBC by TGB Promotions paved the way for a secondary title at lightweight to be at stake for the evening’s chief support.
Adding insult to injury, Foster was given the full B-side treatment as he was introduced first both at the weigh-in Friday and for his ring walk on Saturday. He channeled any frustration felt throughout the promotion, and especially during fight week, and applied it to a beautiful boxing performance against a highly skilled two-division titlist in Fulton.
Foster used his massive reach advantage to keep Fulton at long range for much of the night. His steady jab controlled the range and pace in the opening round, though Fulton managed to land a clean right hand midway through the frame.
Action held in one direction throughout the first half of the contest. Foster was able to rely solely on jabs and right hands during the second and then spent the next several rounds fighting out of a southpaw stance.
Fulton enjoyed a comparatively better third round, as he enjoyed greater success in closing the gap. The moments never lasted very long. Foster quickly took the lead with textbook combinations and often made Fulton miss even as the action took place in the center of the ring and at close quarters.
Fulton was given clear and direct instructions by head trainer Derek “Bozy” Ennis at the midway point. He was not going to win the fight without getting inside and making Foster uncomfortable.
Even if the will was there, the ability was sorely lacking. Fulton followed Foster around the ring, missing on nearly every exchange, as shown in Compubox stats, which credited him with just two punches landed in the frame. Foster never had to leave first gear, though he was urged by head trainer Bobby Benton to “not go crazy but step on the gas a bit more.”
Foster absorbed the sage advice from his boxing-lifetime head coach, as he threw more combinations in the eighth. Fulton dug in and attempted to match that energy but never came close to landing anything of consequence. Foster connected with a looping left and a right hook, while a frustrated Fulton continued to catch nothing but air.
The only real shift in action in the later rounds came when Foster switched back to orthodox to start the 10th. It produced a higher output, as Foster more than doubled up Fulton on punches thrown, while outlanding him at a 32-8 clip. Fulton’s effort to land a combination was met with a counter right by Foster while stepping back.
Foster went back to southpaw in the 11th and peppered Fulton with straight left hands. Fulton managed to land a right hand to the body but was also forced to contend with a bloodied nose and a cut along the right side of his forehead. Foster landed a left hand inside the final minute as Fulton attempted lateral movement to avoid additional damage.
Miserably behind on the cards and in desperate need of a knockout, Fulton instead played keep-away for the entire 12th and final round. Foster didn’t get to land the rib-rattling body shot that his trainer wanted, but he was fine to settle for a virtuoso performance as he earned by far the best win of his hard-luck career.
Fulton, 23-2 (8 KOs), is now 2-2 in his past four starts and stuck in no man’s land. He won two straight after an eighth-round knockout loss to Naoya Inoue in July 2023 to end his unified 122lbs title reign.
A disputed win over Carlos Castro last September raised eyebrows, but Fulton looked fantastic in a dominant win over Brandon Figueroa in their February 1 rematch. Fulton claimed the WBC 126lbs belt that night, but he will now have a hard decision to make about what’s next.
Junior lightweight clearly didn’t work out, as he weighed 132lbs on his second attempt on Friday. It’s even less likely that he will return to 126lbs, and he looked terrible in his lightweight debut.
Foster, 24-2 (12 KOs), picked up his second straight win, though the run should be far longer.
He was disgracefully robbed in a July 2024 loss to Robson Conceicao to end his first WBC 130lbs title reign. Revenge was gained five months later when Foster regained his belt via split decision last November.
Two postponements for this very matchup kept Foster out of the ring for 13 months.
At the very least, he has options – though also a choice to make whether to fight at lightweight and aim to upgrade his secondary belt or return to 130lbs. Per WBC rules, he will have to inform the sanctioning body within the next 15 days of his next steps.
