Stephen Fulton vs Naoya Inoue result, highlights as 'The Monster' becomes four-weight champion

Dom Farrell

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Stephen Fulton vs Naoya Inoue result, highlights as 'The Monster' becomes four-weight champion image

Naoya Inoue became a four-division champion, and laid claim to being the finest fighter on the planet, with a one-sided eight-round victory to take the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles from Stephen Fulton.

After becoming the undisputed champion at bantamweight with a win over Paul Butler last December, Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) stepped up to 122 pounds to take on the similarly undefeated Fulton, who now slips to 21-1 (8 KOs).

Tokyo’s Ariake Arena granted Inoue the expected hero's welcome, and he immediately got to work with his sublime and powerful jab. The variety of his left lead was fundamental to Inoue’s dominance of the contest.

The champion had no response and his plan of trying to establish himself in centre ring quickly went up in smoke, with Inoue demonstrating his chilling power from both hands to the head and body as he opened up a wide lead on the scorecards.

Fulton is a skilled fighter but not one known for his knockout capabilities. After some fleeting success with a pair of right hands in round seven, he knew he needed to try and open up some more. It proved to be his undoing. 

Fittingly, Inoue’s jab to the body laid the groundwork for a spectacular finish. Fulton folded slightly upon receiving the shot to the solar plexus, leaving him exposed to a brutal right hand to the jaw.

That left the American scrambled and defenceless for a signature Inoue left hook that dumped him on the canvas. The 29-year-old bravely got to his feet but had no response to the follow-up assault from pound-for-pound superstar Inoue.

MORE: Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton: Where 'The Monster' ranks among Japan's greatest all-time boxers

Is Naoya Inoue P4P No.1?

He certainly made a hell of a case against Fulton, putting in a performance so authoritative that all understandable weekend noise around Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford will not exclude him from the conversation.

Inoue is a terrifying power puncher, as we saw once again, but he out-jabbed the slick Philadelphia boxer and displayed superior ring craft throughout. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Inoue turned a supposed fight-of-the-year contender into a dazzling showcase for his skills. Anyone who can do that in their first fight in a new weight class has a strong claim to being known as the very best around.

What’s next for Naoya Inoue?

Inoue immediately trained his attentions on Marlon Tapales at ringside and called for a fight with the reigning IBF and WBA super bantamweight champion before the end of the year. It makes perfect sense and would give Inoue a shot at become undisputed at two weights within a 12-month period, further burnishing his legend.

It feels unfair but relevant to note that Tapales looked roughly as enthused about the prospect as he might in the dentist’s waiting room prior to root canal work.

What’s next for Stephen Fulton?

Fulton will be bitterly disappointed with his performance, having failed to make any meaningful impression in the contest. However, there is no shame losing to a fighter as brilliant as Inoue and he deserves credit for taking on this assignment away from home in the first place. Fulton is a big super bantamweight and has had a long run at 122 pounds. A step up to featherweight feels natural at this stage in his career. 

WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez won on the undercard and an expected strong ranking at 126 pounds with that governing body could put Fulton in line, while Rey Vargas and Brandon Figueroa are both mouthwatering options if he elects to take the WBC route.

MORE: Boxing’s 25 Under 25: Ranking the best young boxers and prospects in 2023, from Devin Haney to Moses Itauma

Stephen Fulton vs Naoya live results, updates, highlights from WBC & WBO super bantamweight title fight card

Naoya Inoue beats Stephen Fulton by eighth-round TKO to win WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles

Round 8: Inoue stalks Fulton, can he put his foot down here? Oh my, yes he can! A brutal right hand off the jab to the body scrambles Fulton, who is open to a left hook that sends him down and almost through the ropes! Inoue leaps up on the ring post, but hang on. Fulton gets up, he's going to continue but not for long as Inoue overwhelms him and get the stoppage. The Monster is a four-division world champion. That was a masterclass.

Round 7: Same pace in the first minute of the seventh before Fulton clubs in a couple of short rights to the side of the head! Hello, that got Inoue's attention! You don't want to make him mad though. An overhand right and a left to the body both sound meaty. Now three lefts upstairs in succession. Fulton had his best moment of the fight there and the response was emphatic and sapping from Inoue.

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 63-70 Inoue

Round 6: Double jab from Fulton. He needs more of that. He doesn't need any more of that lead left hook that Inoue got home. Now a right moves Fulton back. The champion is blocking and avoiding a lot of these attacks but even when Inoue doesn't succeed it leaves him in no position to fire back. Fulton misses with a lunging right and cops a short left for his troubles. He's going to have to open up now and you feel that can only play into Inoue's lethal hands.

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 54-60 Inoue

Round 5: Inoue looks to open up with some combinations. Can Fulton go with him? This is spiteful now, with Fulton's calmness under pressure being tested. Even blocking and catching this stuff from Inoue takes a toll. Fulton gets on his toes, Inoue is unhurried and throws an overhand right that the champion does very well to half block. 

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 45-50 Inoue

Round 4: Fulton is slipping into a very tough spot because, with a 38% career knockout rate, you wouldn't expect him to win this inside the distance. An early deficit on the cards is a problem. Defensively the American looks in a better rhythm in this session and lands a nice counter jab of his own upstairs. Inoue's control of range is so good, although a wild left uppercut stands as a rare ugly piece of work. Fulton's best round of the fight but not to the extent you can really give it to him.

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 36-40 Inoue

Round 3: Inoue jabs to the body, then connects upstairs. Fulton not finding the range with the jab and he's clipped in return. Again, nothing for the challenger's bulging highlights reel in this round but the power and variety of his jab has easily banked him the opening rounds. In the closing seconds Inoue lands a one-two and Fulton looks to have a little blood from the nose - the fruits of the home favourite's incredible range-finder.

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 27-30 Inoue

Round 2: Inoue gets a right hand home off the jab, Fulton's legs had a momentary wobble there. The champ will have no doubts over the task at hand now. Inoue's jab is such a weapon, he's thrown it immaculately so far. Fulton is a versatile fighter but standing at mid-range is not the play here. 

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 18-20 Inoue

Round 1: Fulton look to take centre ring, Inoue gets through with a long right to the ribs but nothing landed of note in the first minute. Now an Inoue jab stings Fulton's nose, he follows up with a shorter left. Another strong left lead from Inoue. The follow-up doesn't land but he's fairly quickly disabused Fulton of the notion that centre ring might be easily won.

SN unofficial scorecard: Fulton 9-10 Inoue

9:11 p.m JST/ 8:11 a.m. ET: Fulton got to walk second but he's being introduced first. Polite applause. Now Inoue, who gets the expected din. Time for those two get their final instructions and time for us to go round-by-round.

9:02 p.m JST/ 8:02 a.m. ET: Fulton now into the ring, looking relaxed and even singing along to his walk-on track. It might be a partisan Inoue crowd in there but they're a respectful bunch. This isn't Rocky vs. Ivan Drago in communist Moscow, as Tim Bradley suggested fairly wildly on he ESPN broadcast in the US.

8:58 p.m JST/ 7:58 a.m. ET: Here comes Inoue. Not an empty seat in the 15,000-capacity Ariake Arena and he gets a hero's reception as expected, bouncing a weaving from side to side and looking all business.

8:55 p.m JST/ 7:55 a.m. ET: Inoue has just led a rousing pep talk in his dressing room (well, it sounded that way, I don't speak Japanese) and is heading out to walk first in the unfamiliar role of challenger. The 30-year-old is 19-0 in world title fights, with 17 KOs. Absurd behaviour. 

8:45 p.m JST/ 7:45 a.m. ET: Still waiting for the ringwalks, which can't come a moment too soon for Shakur Stevenson. Hang in there, champ!

8:30 p.m JST/ 7:30 a.m. ET: Prior to the main event, we're getting a look at Inoue's one-sided victory over Paul Butler that made him the undisputed bantamweight champion last time out. Englishman Butler boxed on the retreat all night, offering little in the way of offence before being stopped in the penultimate round. You would expect Fulton to also box on the back foot but he's a different quality of boxer to Butler. The question is whether the American can bring his slick Philadelphia skills to bear against 'The Monster'.

In his majority decision win over Brandon Figueroa to unify the titles, Fulton showed he can get in the pocket and bite down on his gumshield. He has grit to match his talent, but doing too much of that against one of the most ferocious punchers in the sport - even if he has wrapped his hands just the way you asked - would be a wild tactic. Inoue's boxing ability has been underrated at times. If he pulls this off to become a fourth-weight world champion, that will not longer be the case.

8:04 p.m JST/ 7:04 a.m. ET: Shimizu came into the fight with an 11-1 record and 10 KOs, impressive enough on paper. Once the bout was underway it quickly became clear he had no business being in the ring with someone of Ramirez's class. Faced with that situation, the Cuban stylist had a decision to make over what sort of a show he wanted to put on. Mercifully, he chose quick and clinical, dismantling his foe in style inside five rounds. 

Elsewhere in the 126lbs division, it seems WBA champion Leigh Wood and British rival Josh Warrington will have domestic business to attend to at some point this year. Throw Ramirez in with any of Rey Vargas, Luis Alberto Lopez or Brandon Figueroa and consider me very interested indeed.,

Robeisy Ramirez beats Satoshi Shimizu by fifth-round TKO to retain the WBO featherweight title

Round 5: A left uppercut wobbles Shimizu and another drops him onto a knee. Ramirez threw another after Shimizu went down. Careful with that! The challenger gets back up onto tottering legs with blood streaming from his nose. Ramirez knows the time is now, lays on more punishment and the referee waves it off after one minute and eight seconds of the fifth!

Round 4: Three jabs and a left hand from Ramirez. He knows he can mix things up with little concern over what comes back. He still can't miss with the uppercut. Shimizu is invited on as Ramirez covers up, only to cuff him with a right. Now the champion forces his foe to cover up on the ropes. The home crowd try to rouse Shimizu but he looks a forlorn fighter in there.

SN unofficial scorecard: Ramirez 40-36 Shimizu

Round 3: The referee warns Ramirez for a wide right hook around the back of the head. Slightly over-zealous but it's been a quiet round, perhaps he wanted something to do. Ramirez seemed to want a good look at what Shimizu has and the answer is not too much. Uppercuts from left and right before Shimizu is warned for using the elbow. The champion winds up a nice right hook to finish. It might be time for him to put his foot down.

SN unofficial scorecard: Ramirez 30-27 Shimizu

Round 2: Ramirez puts a combination together off the left uppercut to the head. Then a couple of rapid blows to the midsection. Shimizu is standing in front of him and being very hittable in doing so. The challenger paws a few tentative jabs. Ramirez measures those and responds with a lead right hook. There looks to be a significant gulf in class at the moment.

SN unofficial scorecard: Ramirez 20-18 Shimizu

Round 1: An exploratory first minute for both men in their southpaw stances. Shimizu throwing one-twos, while Ramirez is looking to create angles and close the distance to unload hooks. He gets a nice left uppercut through the middle. Shimizu looks ripe for that shot as he stands a little upright with his hands slightly low. The champion goes to the body, then finishes the session with a winging right hook upstairs. He'll be happy enough with that.

SN unofficial scorecard: Ramirez 10-9 Shimizu

7:37 p.m JST/ 6:37 a.m. ET: And now here's Robeisy Ramirez, who apparently doesn't go in for power ballads to the same extent. The fighters will be getting their final instructions imminently, at which point we'll be going round-by-round.

7:32 p.m JST/ 6:32 a.m. ET: Jimmy Lennon Jr is in the ring for the co-main event and here comes the challenger Satoshi Shimizu. He's ringwalking to 'Don't Want To Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith. Interesting choice to get fired up for a world title fight, but whatever lights your candle, pal.

7:15 p.m JST/ 6:15 a.m. ET: For anyone who was worried about the pre-fight carry-on putting this sensational main event in danger, worry no more. Inoue has had his hands wrapped to the satisfaction of Team Fulton. Interestingly, as the footage below shows, Inoue clearly had gauze put on his skin first before any tape. A little win for the champion and his coach Wahid Rahim.

6:55 p.m JST/ 5:55 a.m. ET: Next up we're into world title action in our chief support, with Robeisy Ramirez making the first defence of his WBO featherweight title against Satoshi Shimizu. After suffering a shock points defeat on his professional debut, the skilful Ramirez has proved every bit as problematic as you'd expect a well-schooled Cuban southpaw to be. He graduated to world champion with a wide points decision over Isaac Dogboe in April and will want to put on a show against Shimizu, who will have the backing of the home crowd. There are plenty of big fights to be made in a stacked 126lbs division. Ramirez might just be the best of them all.

Kanamu Sakama beats Ryu Horikawa by eighth-round TKO to win the Japanese light flyweight title!

6:45 p.m JST/ 5:45 a.m. ET: Sakama does indeed get the stoppage with the clock ticking down. There were only 20 seconds remaining when he battered the brave Horikawa with his latest onslaught, a heavy right hand whacking out his opponents gumshield. Horikawa was then steadied by a solid left and the referee waved it off, the beaten and bloodied fighter falling exhausted to the canvas as he did. Sakama moves to 8-0 with 7 KOs. Definitely one to watch.

6:30 p.m JST/ 5:30 a.m. ET: Halfway through and Sakama is dictating matters, throwing well to the body and backing his opponent up. Victory seems more or less assured but can he catch the eye with a stoppage?

6:15 p.m JST/ 5:15 a.m. ET: We're into the first round of the eight-rounder between Kanamu Sakama and Ryu Horikawa. The vacant Japanese light flyweight title is on the line. Sakama is 20 years old, 7-0 and a heavy favourite for this one.

Yoshiki Takei beats Ronnie Baldonado by third-round TKO!

5:57 p.m JST/ 4:57 a.m. ET: Well, well that's a bit of a statement. Baldonado kept Takei honest with a couple of meaty right hands in round two but the response form the home fighter was emphatic. Takei landed a solid southpaw jab through the guard and, as Baldonado hung out a lazy right cross, he fired a slicing left hook underneath that shot and into the midsection. Baldonado tried to move away before collapsing in a heap when he realised he couldn't really breathe in any air anymore. A classic body shot stoppage.

5:45 p.m JST/ 4:45 a.m. ET: The undercard fight in the same super bantamweight division is underway, with Japanese prospect and former kickboxing star Yoshiki Takei taking on experienced Filipino Ronnie Baldonado. Takei is 6-0 under the Queensbury rules and looking to preserve a fledgeling undefeated record as Chihiro Iwashita and Taiga Imanaga did in a couple of the earlier preliminary bouts. Stay up to date with the full fight-card results from Tokyo here.

5:35 p.m JST/ 4:35 a.m. ET: The build-up to this one has been flecked with controversy after Fulton's trainer Wahid Rahim questioned the legality of Inoue's handwraps. "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," said Rahim. "We can wrap our hands in the same fashion but then where is the level of safety for our fighters?"

It should be noted that, as well as conforming to Japanese board rules, Inoue has boxed in the US and the UK and his wraps have always been approved by the relevant commissions. However, allegations of "stacking" emerged after footage of Inoue's hands being wrapped prior to facing Nonito Donaire was shared online. Our man Tom Gray has delved into the wraps issue to tell you all you need to know.

MORE: Why did Stephen Fulton's trainer accuse Naoya Inoue of illegal hand wrapping? Boxing rules, process explained

5:10 p.m JST/ 4:10 a.m. ET: In the UK, Sky Sports are immediately preceding their undercard broadcast with a re-run of Hagler vs. Hearns. This would normally feel like setting your main event up for a fall but it's probably the perfect way to whet everyone's appetite for Naoya Inoue.

5:00 p.m JST/ 4:00 a.m. ET: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' full live coverage of the blockbuster world title showdown between pound-for-pound superstar Naoyo Inoue and Stephen Fulton. Undefeated American Fulton is away from home with it all to do, putting his WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles on the line against knockout artist Inoue.

Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue start time

Ringwalks for the main event are scheduled to commence at around 8:30 p.m. local time, translating to championship boxing over breakfast at 7:30 a.m. ET.

How to watch Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue: TV channel, live stream

Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue is live on ESPN+ in the U.S.

MORE: Why is Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou happening?

Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue price: How much does the fight cost?

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How to watch Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue in the UK, Australia, Canada

Region TV channel Live streaming
Canada — TSN+
U.K. and Ireland Sky Sports Sky Go
Australia — Main event on Kayo

Stephen Fulton vs. Naoya Inoue fight card

  • Naoya Inoue def. Stephen Fulton (c) via TKO 8/12 to win the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles
  • Robeisy Ramirez (c) def. Satoshi Shimizu via TKO 5/12 to retain the WBO featherweight title
  • Chihiro Iwashita def. Hiroyuki Takahara TKO 4/8; super featherweights
  • Kanamu Sakama def. Ryu Horikawa TKO 8/8 to win the vacant Japanese light flyweight title
  • Taiga Imanaga def. Hebi Marapu SD 8; lightweights
  • Yoshiki Takei def. Ronnie Baldonado TKO 3/8; super bantamweights

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.