Fulton vs Inoue

Who won Fulton vs Inoue?

Naoya Inoue beat Stephen Fulton by technical knockout in the 8th round on Tuesday 25th July 2023 at Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Super Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 122 pounds (8.7 stone or 55.3 KG).

This contest was for the unified super bantamweight championship of the world, with the WBC & WBO belts on the line.

Also, on the undercard Robeisy Ramirez beat Satoshi Shimizu for the WBO World Featherweight championship and Ronnie Baldonado was overcome by Yoshiki Takei.

Fulton vs Inoue stats

Back in July 2023, Stephen Fulton stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 21 wins, zero loses and 0 draws.

Naoya Inoue made his way to the ring with an unblemished record of 24 wins and 0 draws.

Stephen Fulton was the younger man by 2 years, at 29 years old.

Fulton had a height advantage of 2 inches over Inoue. Despite this, Inoue had 1-inch reach advantage.

Both Stephen Fulton & Naoya Inoue fought out of an orthodox stance.

Fulton was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 3 less fights, and made his debut in 2014, 2 year later than Inoue, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 5 less professional rounds, 151 to Inoue's 156.

Naoya Inoue was ranked number 1 by the WBC and 1 by the WBO in the 122lb division.

Fulton vs Inoue form

Fulton had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Daniel Roman on 4th June 2022 by unanimous decision in their WBC World Super Bantamweight and WBO World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Armory, Minnesota, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Brandon Figueroa on 27th November 2021 by majority decision in their WBC World Super Bantamweight and WBO World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Park Theater, Nevada.

Going into that contest, he had beat Angelo Leo on 23rd January 2021 by unanimous decision in their WBO World Junior Featherweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut.

Before that, he had won against Arnold Khegai on 25th January 2020 by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Barclays Center, New York.

He had beat Isaac Avelar on 24th August 2019 by knockout in the 6th round at Bert Ogden Arena, Texas.

Naoya Inoue remained undefeated as a professional, stopping 5 of his last opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Paul Butler on 13th December 2022 by knockout in the 11th round in their The Ring Bantamweight, WBO World Bantamweight, IBF World Bantamweight and WBC World Bantamweight championship fight at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Previous to that, he had defeated Nonito Donaire on 7th June 2022 by technical knockout in the 2nd round in their WBC World Bantamweight, WBA Super World Bantamweight and IBF World Bantamweight championship fight at Super Arena, Saitama.

Going into that contest, he had won against Aran Dipaen on 14th December 2021 by technical knockout in the 8th round in their WBA Super World Bantamweight and IBF World Bantamweight championship fight at Kokugikan, Tokyo.

Before that, he had defeated Michael Dasmarinas on 19th June 2021 by knockout in the 3rd round in their WBA Super World Bantamweight and IBF World Bantamweight championship fight at Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

He had beat Jason Moloney on 31st October 2020 by technical knockout in the 7th round in their WBA Super World Bantamweight, IBF World Bantamweight and The Ring Bantamweight championship fight at The Bubble, MGM Grand, Nevada.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Naoya Inoue had been fighting more than Stephen Fulton.

Going to this contest, Stephen Fulton had last fought 1 year, 1 month and 21 days ago, while Naoya Inoue's last outing had been 7 months and 12 days ago.

Fulton's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 11 months and 1 day, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 13 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 54 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 10.8 rounds on average.

Inoue's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 8 months and 24 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 31 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6.2 rounds on average.

What time did Fulton vs Inoue start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 11:45 AM UTC at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Japan, which was 7:45 AM EST or 4:45 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 12:45 PM BST in the UK.

Who broadcast Fulton vs Inoue?

The ESPN+ show is expected to begin at 4:30 AM EST / 1:30 AM PST. The Sky Sports Action broadcast of the card is expected to start at 9:30 AM (BTS).

What were the odds on Fulton vs Inoue?

Stephen Fulton was a 10/3 (+340) underdog going into the contest, while Naoya Inoue made his way into the ring at 2/9 (-450) with oddsmakers.