Naoya Inoue is the new Pound for Pound King of Boxing after a scintillating win over Stephen Fulton pushed “The Monster” above Oleksandr Usyk.
Inoue delighted his home crowd on Tuesday. He knocked out reigning WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton in the eighth round at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Previously at number two, Inoue takes the top dog spot and is now a four-weight world champion. His unsurpassed record in world title fights stands at 20-0 with 18 KOs.
Naoya Inoue becomes P4P King
Inoue, now 25-0 with 22 KOs, kept Fulton at bay in the opening few rounds. He peppered the Philadelphia native with stinging jabs and racked up the early sessions.
Almost immediately, Fulton was in retreat mode as Inoue marched forward. He never gained a foothold in the fight.
Fulton kept his guard high as Inoue winged left hooks and right hands. In the seventh round, Fulton had small pockets of success, but Inoue came out in round eight intent on blunting his momentum.
Inoue knocked down Fulton with a right-left combination. When Fulton rose to his feet, the new P4P King went in for the finish. With Fulton pinned against the ropes, Inoue unleashed a blistering combination punctuated by a fight-finishing left hook.
After his greatest triumph, Inoue was understandably delighted. He also appreciates the fact Fulton accepted a two-month delay.
“Everything I was thinking about was to fight him this year,” Inoue said. “However, unfortunately, I got injured. I had to postpone this fight.
“I am sorry to my team and Fulton’s team. But thank you so much for accepting this fight once again. I am so happy right now.”
Due to Inoue’s significant achievement, the winner of this weekend’s colossal welterweight clash can no longer overtake Inoue. Whoever wins from Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford will be the new number two.
WBN Pound for Pound Top 10: July 2023
1 Naoya INOUE – Super Bantam
2 Oleksandr USYK – Heavy
3 CANELO Alvarez – Super Middle
4 Errol SPENCE JR – Welter
5 Dmitry BIVOL – Light Heavy
6 Vasiliy LOMACHENKO Light
7 Devin HANEY – Light
8 Shakur STEVENSON Light
9 Gervonta DAVIS Light
10 Jermell CHARLO – Super Welter
In the co-feature, Robeisy Ramirez made a successful first defense of the world featherweight title with a dominant victory over an ever-coming Satoshi Shimizu in Japan.
The WBO champion took out Shimizu via a fifth-round TKO.
Ramirez said: “This was a tremendous experience. It is a blessing to be able to demonstrate my talent in a stadium full of people and this part of the world. I am grateful and happy. The job is done.
“Now I set my sights on a world title unification clash. I am ready to go to Japan, Scotland, England, Mexico, wherever we have to fight. I will always be available to do my job.”
