Stephen Fulton defending his WBC and WBO Jr. featherweight titles against bantamweight kingpin Naoya Inoue was hotly anticipated for May and will still be hotly anticipated when it arrives in July after an injury postponement. On paper, it’s right on par with some of the best clashes the division has ever offered.
And Jr. featherweight has offered a lot.
Abner Mares-Anselmo Moreno and Nonito Donaire-Guillermo Rigondeaux are already roughly a decade past. Fulton-Inoue looks like at least the best Jr. featherweight clash since one of those; one can take their pick. As far as 122 pounds goes, it’s 2023’s best show in town.
It’s not the only show though.
Saturday (DAZN, 8 PM EST) will see the return of 28-year old IBF/WBA unified Jr. featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-0, 8 KO) on the undercard of the Jesse Rodriguez-Cristian Gonzalez flyweight title fight.
Akhmadaliev will attempt the fourth defense of the belts he won via narrow split decision in 2020 against Daniel Roman. His challenger, 31-year old Marlon Tapales (36-3, 19 KO), is a former bantamweight titlist riding a three fight knockout win streak.
For Akhmadaliev, it will be the third opponent in five starts rated in the top ten of the division by both TBRB and Ring Magazine. That’s perfectly solid matchmaking and, given the styles of the combatants, there is every reason to think we will see an entertaining fight.
In this case, that doesn’t quite feel good enough.
In recent years, unification fever has been a real thing in both men’s and women’s boxing. Not all unification fights are made equal. Some feel like formalities going in and play out to form (see: Inoue-Butler). Others have felt like genuine must’s that give us the definitive answers that can only be solved in competition (see: Charlo-Castano, Taylor-Ramirez).
Jr. featherweight is a division where unification feels like it falls in the latter camp. If Akhmadaliev wins this weekend, and he should, a showdown with the winner of Fulton-Inoue would be intriguing.
We know Fulton has been very publicly interested in Akhmadaliev. Akhmadaliev has stated he wants to be an undisputed champion. So far, it comes across like Akhmadaliev’s promoter really has interest in only one half of July’s big event.
As Keith Idec reported in February, Akhmadaliev’s promoter Eddie Hearn phrased his interest in unification at Jr. featherweight around Inoue, stating:
“We have, a hundred percent, no problem with [an Akhmadaliev-Inoue] fight,” Hearn told a small group of reporters recently at Madison Square Garden. “You know, if the Fulton fight [with Inoue] didn’t happen, we’d make the MJ fight [with Inoue] right now. But if the Fulton fight [against Inoue] is to happen, which is a great fight, we’ll complete undisputed with Akhmadaliev against Inoue, no problem.”
But what if Inoue isn’t the one who’s there to complete undisputed with? Clearly, the business of Inoue at 122 pounds is different from the business of everyone else. In a weight class where riches have rarely been mined the way they are at welterweight and above, Inoue is a genuine rainmaker in Japan. There might not be a better payday in any weight class below lightweight in the sport.
No matter what happens in July, Akhmadaliev-Fulton at Jr. featherweight is unlikely to generate the same revenue either versus Inoue will. It may be that Akhmadaliev-Inoue is more realistic even if Fulton beats Inoue in what genuinely looks like a 50–50 fight.
Still, it would be nice for the lip service to at least be about facing July’s winner and not just the bigger payday. It will be interesting to hear what Akhmadaliev, and his team, have to say this weekend if Akhmadaliev gets past Tapales.
Cliff’s Notes…
“Bam” Rodriguez shouldn’t have a lot of trouble snaring a vacant flyweight title this weekend. Is it a step toward a showdown with Sunny Edwards or Julio Cesar Martinez? How long will “Bam” be at flyweight before Jr. bantamweight comes calling again? The 23-year old has plenty of time to answer any question…Sebastian Fundora is must-see TV every time he fights which means Saturday on Showtime will need a look…Shakur Stevenson, Jared Anderson, and Keyshawn Davis are all matched to win this weekend. The latter two are still developing but Stevenson could be one fight away from a show at the undisputed lightweight title or at least a belt in the class. May’s Haney-Lomachenko winner looms large in his future one way or another.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.