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On Tuesday, Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue further proved his pound-for-pound status when he captured the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles with an eight round knockout of unbeaten Stephen Fulton in Tokyo, Japan.
The victory made Inoue a four division world champion - and it was his first bout since knockout out Paul Butler in December to become the undisputed champion at bantamweight. Inoue is only the second fighter in Japanese history to become a four division beltholder.
Inoue controlled Fulton for most of the contest. In the eight, a two punch combination sent Fulton down and out on his back.
Fulton managed to get up, but then was battered with punches and was going down for a second time when the referee stepped in to wave off the fight.
The 30-year-old Inoue improved to 25-0 in his career, with 22 wins by knockout, while the 29-year-old Fulton's record dropped to 21-1 with eight KOs.
The two boxers were scheduled to collide earlier this year, but the fight was pushed back after Inoue suffered a training camp injury.
“Everything I was thinking about was to fight him this year,” Inoue said. “However, unfortunately, I got injured, and I had to postpone this fight. I am sorry to my team and Fulton’s team, but thank you so much for accepting this fight once again. I am so happy right now.”
Inoue was very pleased with his own performance, but he also believes that he can get much better at the higher weight. The man known as "The Monster" will look to become an undisputed world champion at super bantamweight.
"I believe I was able to show my increased speed and power in this bout," said Inoue. "But I still have room to improve, so I'll get stronger as a super bantam."
