Rarely has Naoya Inoue needed to step into hostile territory. For the 30-year-old, he’s a rockstar in his native land of Japan. Still, despite his celebrity status reaching an all-time high, if Inoue wanted to take the next step in his career, it appeared as though he would have no choice but to make his way stateside.
After casually stripping every 118-pounder of their world title, Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) vacated his undisputed throne and brazenly made the move up in weight. Unwilling to take a soft touch in his super bantamweight debut, Inoue took aim at current WBC and WBO titlist, Stephen Fulton.
Ultimately, Fulton’s championship status meant little during negotiations as the 28-year-old has decided to pack his bags and head halfway across the world. On July 25th, at the Ariake Arena, in Japan, Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) will officially defend his titles for the second time.
If he wanted, Fulton could have moaned and groaned over the location of their showdown. But, of course, money talks, as Fulton was handed a large sum of money to placate his wishes. Having signed his name on the dotted line, Fulton is now zoned in on taking care of business in just under a month.
On paper, Inoue is seemingly the best fighter that Fulton has faced yet. But, even with the difficulties that Inoue presents, including the home-field advantage he will enjoy on fight night, Fulton isn’t sweating it. Although his physical attributes have never failed him, Fulton points to what’s between his ears as the key factor that will lead him to victory on July 25th.
“There’s nothing to cry about,” said Fulton recently on the PBC podcast. “Nothing to worry about, just make the right adjustments at the right time. I believe in my ability, I’m very smart. There’s nothing that I can’t outthink.”