By the time he steps into the ring with Naoya Inoue on Tuesday morning (U.S. time), Stephen Fulton will have been in Japan more than two weeks.
But there’s been no sightseeing for the champ in the land of the rising sun.
“Strictly business,” he said. “Gym and hotel for me. I ain’t here for fun. I’m here for a job.”
That job is to defend his WBC and WBO titles in foreign territory against one of the most feared punchers in the sport. It’s an admirable endeavor in a sport that has seen precious few fighters willing to test themselves against the best…and in their opponent’s backyard no less. And if the response Fulton received when he arrived in Japan on July 12, the local fight fans appreciate him, as well.
Not that they’ve seen much of him since that arrival.
“I actually wear a scarf over my head and my glasses and the mask so I wouldn’t be seen, because a lot of people were mobbing me,” he said.
You could say that’s a good thing.
“Yeah, it is good,” he admits. “But right now, I don’t need it.”
The Philadelphia native’s focus is clear, and it’s easy to see that he just wants to get down to business at Ariake Arena and face “The Monster,” 24-0 with 21 KOs and in search of a fourth divisional title. If there’s anyone who is the boogeyman in the sport, it’s Inoue. But Fulton didn’t blink when the prospect of fighting him came up. And even when Inoue got injured earlier this year, postponing their initial meeting in May, “Cool Boy Steph” had a legit out, but didn’t take it.
Fulton is a different breed.
“I feel like besides the environment where I grew up in, both my parents were like that when they were younger,” he said where his approach to the game comes from. “When you know your parents’ lifestyles and how they grew up and their upbringing and how hard they had it and the things they had to do in the streets to survive, that was a part of it. But my mindset, I feel like it’s God-given. I have to say that not everybody has the mindset that I have, and I feel like I’m a rare person.”
He is.
“I don’t make any excuses; you see my beard’s cut,” Fulton said, the cut a nod to those who felt that his longer beard would dilute Inoue’s power and give the champion an unfair advantage. “I don’t make any excuses; I just get sh!t done.”
Needless to say, he hasn’t blinked once since the contract was signed. And why should he? Like Inoue, he’s undefeated, with Fulton clocking in with a 21-0 (8 KOs) record, and since winning his WBO title against Angelo Leo in January of 2021, he added the WBC belt against Brandon Figueroa and defended both against Daniel Roman. Now he’ll welcome Inoue to 122 pounds in a fight that has drawn just as much attention from hardcore boxing fans as Saturday’s Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Superfight. And while he hasn’t been checking into the hype too much since he left for Japan, he does feel that some fans Stateside are sleeping on him.
“Some of the things I have been seeing for months leading up was everyone going against me, honestly,” Fulton said. “Now I see a couple people that are supporting in their own ways and shout out to Errol because he’s been supporting me. He’s been posting about me and telling everybody they should be supporting me and things like that. And Crawford, too. I read an article about him saying that he hopes I bring the victory back, as well. So shout out to those guys who will be fighting later on in the week after me, but I’ve definitely seen more negative and going against me than I’ve seen positive.”
Which will make a win all the sweeter should he pull it off. And in his mind, there is no other outcome.
“I feel like everything that I’ve wanted to do is in alignment now,” he said. “The outcome of this fight, of my hand being raised, I feel like it was meant for me.”
Maybe it is. I remind him of something he told me before the Leo fight:
“I found my own lane and that’s my lane – beating undefeated fighters.”
Heading into the Inoue fight, Fulton has faced 10 unbeaten fighters and handed them their first loss. Will Inoue be 11? I simply ask Fulton if he still owns that lane.
“You tell me,” he smiles.