Ra’eese Aleem respects Stephen Fulton for embracing the biggest challenge of Fulton’s career.
One of Fulton’s 122-pound rivals just can’t envision the unbeaten WBC/WBO champion traveling to Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue’s home country and upsetting one of boxing’s most complete, dangerous fighters. Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) is scheduled to defend his two belts versus Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) on July 25 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
“I think Inoue wins that fight,” Aleem told BoxingScene.com. “I think, you know, it’s in his backyard, also. But he’s just too strong, too explosive. If Fulton wins, he’s better than what I get him credit for, even though he has a lot of advantages going into this fight.
“He’s the bigger body, longer, but I don’t think Fulton can straight up box Inoue for 12 rounds. Inoue can close the gap so fast and, you know, he’s just so fast and so explosive. And Fulton’s just not the biggest puncher, so there’s no real respect there.”
The 30-year-old Inoue, a three-division champion, is consistently listed by most sportsbooks as nearly a 3-1 favorite versus Fulton. Aleem would welcome his own shot at Inoue if the Inoue-Fulton fight unfolds the way he predicted.
“As far as fighting the winner, I would love to fight Inoue,” Aleem said. “I think that’s an explosive, crowd-friendly fight that I would love to have. And unlike Fulton, I believe I have the power to put him down.”
The 32-year-old Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs), of Muskegon, Michigan, has traveled overseas himself for an IBF elimination match against Australia’s Sam Goodman (14-0, 7 KOs) on the Tim Tszyu-Carlos Ocampo undercard Sunday at Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia. Showtime will air Aleem-Goodman as the opener of a two-bout broadcast that’ll air live in the United States on Saturday night (11:30 p.m. EDT; 8:30 p.m. PDT).
Aleem-Goodman also will be broadcast as the Tszyu-Ocampo co-feature on pay-per-view on Sunday in Australia ($59.99; 12 p.m. AEST). Goodman is ranked fourth among the IBF’s junior featherweight contenders, one spot above the fifth-rated Aleem.
The winner will move closer to a shot at the IBF’s 122-pound champion, Marlon Tapales, who upset Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-1, 8 KOs) by split decision in his last fight, a 12-rounder April 8 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio. The Philippines’ Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) wants the Inoue-Fulton winner as well.
Win, lose or draw, Aleem credits Fulton for doing everything in his power to push to fight Inoue, the former undisputed bantamweight champion.
“I feel like for him, it made sense,” Aleem said. “You know, he is the champ, but he wanted to move up [126] to fight [Brandon] Figueroa [in a rematch]. When that fight fell through, Inoue unified the division and moved up to [122]. You know, I used to call him ‘Scared Boy’ Steph because he would never fight me. But he has my respect. You know, he’s fighting Inoue in Japan, huge payday, high risk, high reward, it makes sense. And if he comes out with the win, he’s a lot better than what I give him credit for.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.