The team surrounding Stephen Fulton has raised a hand wrap scandal which they would like resolved prior to fight night.
Wahid Rahim, Fulton’s head trainer, took a drastic turn during Saturday’s press conference ahead of the upcoming showdown versus Naoya Inoue. The threat of walking away from Tuesday’s WBC/WBO junior featherweight title fight was put on the table, over concerns that Yokohama’s Inoue (24-0, 21KOs) wraps his hands in a fashion that is considered ‘stacking’ in most commissions around the world.
“In previous fights, Inoue and his team have wrapped his hands with an excessive amount of tape, and then applied more tape to the gauze which creates a cast,” Rahim insisted while addressing the assembled media Saturday afternoon local time in Tokyo. “This is not an assumption. I have proof. We can wrap our hands in the same fashion but then where is the level of safety for our fighters?
“If this issue is not resolved, I am not letting my fighter into the ring. We are already behind enemy lines. We have made no requests. We did not even ask for a rematch clause. This is the only request I’ve demanded.”
The bout is due to headline a Lenimo Pay-Per-View event in Japan and an ESPN+ telecast in the U.S. this Tuesday from Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) smiled and turned to his trainer after the comments were made, perhaps taken aback by the bold claim. The unbeaten WBC/WBO 122-pound titlist is due to make his third overall title defense of the WBO title and second with both belts on the line.
Inoue moves up from his previous undisputed bantamweight championship reign in a bid to become Japan’s second male boxer to win titles in four weight divisions. A win by the three-division champ and pound-for-pound entrant will make Inoue the first-ever Japanese boxer to hold unified title status at two more weights.
However, the drastic shift in tone during Saturday’s press conference—and the questions raised—have created a new conversation.
Videos have circulated of Inoue’s hands being wrapped prior to his rematch with Nonito Donaire last June in Saitama, Japan. Current and past boxers—including IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards—have deemed the process illegal. Former title challenger Paul Smith publicly noted that he wouldn’t have allowed his fighter to enter the ring after viewing a video surrounding the Inoue-Donaire rematch.
Inoue scored a second-round knockout to further unify the bantamweight division, nearly three years after defeating the future Hall of Famer via unanimous decision in their November 2019 WBA/IBF title unification bout. Donaire and his team never questioned the process or have accused Inoue of any wrongdoing, other than a pre-fight dust-up over the glove selection that was ultimately resolved.
Fulton fights outside of the U.S. for the first time in his career. Clearly, his team is doing their part to ensure a level playing field. The boxer himself is one-hundred percent focused on the fight itself, which comes with by far the biggest payday of his career and his chance to soar high among the mythical pound-for-pound rankings in a fight week that already includes the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford undisputed welterweight championship.
“I spoke with Fulton regarding my concerns. Fulton asked me not to discuss my concerns,” Rahim disclosed before he proceeded with the questions he felt he needed to ask. ‘Fulton said, ‘I don’t care… I will still win.’
“As I admire Fulton’s courage, I have to do my job as his trainer to look out for his safety. In previous fights, Inoue and his team have wrapped his hands with an excessive amount of tape, and then applied more tape to the gauze which creates a cast.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox