The final week of July promises to be absolutely fantastic for boxing fans. We have, on July 29th, the big one – the really big one – this the four-belt unification showdown between the two best welterweights in the world right now, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence. While earlier that week, on the 25th, we will see Stephen Fulton put his two super-bantamweight titles on the line in a fight with former unified, four-belt bantamweight ruler Naoya Inoue.
It’s clear the 147-pound fight is the bigger deal, the main talking point not only of the upcoming schedule but of the whole year. But the 122-pound clash might prove to be the better, even greater fight. We all know what to expect when 30-year-old Inoue, 24-0(21) is in action: brilliant boxing skills, a ruthless pursuit of victory, and ultimately victory, a victory that very often comes via violent KO, the fight-ender coming via either a body shot or a head shot, and from either hand.
But Fulton is nothing short of brimming with confidence going into the fight, and it’s been this way ever since the fight was announced (the fight later undergoing a postponement). Fulton, 21-0(8) and the reigning and defending WBC and WBO super-bantam champ, has told anyone who has listened and is listening that he will get the job done in Japan, that his combination of skill, nerve, desire, and self-belief will see him come home with his two belts.
Upon arriving in Japan yesterday, Fulton said, “I’m in great shape, and I’ve come to win and defend my titles.” Fulton received quite a welcome at the airport upon touching down in Tokyo, with the always-polite Japanese media showing the away fighter respect and admiration. But Inoue will show Fulton neither of these things when the bell rings on July 25.
Inoue is searching for true greatness. Having already ruled at three weights, “The Monster” is now invading a fourth weight class, and he wants all the gold there too. But if Fulton has got any pre-fight nerves, he sure isn’t showing any.
“This ain’t nothing to worry about,” 28-year-old Fulton said to PBC a while before arriving in Japan. “I just [have to] make the right adjustments at the right times. I believe in my ability, I’m very smart. There’s nothing that I can’t outthink.”
But Inoue, along with being a genuine killer puncher, is also blessed with a high ring IQ himself. The more we think about this fight, the more we wonder if it might prove to be more of a high-level chess match type of encounter, not a display of pure punching. On this score, punching ability and registering KO’s, Inoue is, of course, the boss (it will be interesting to see how Inoue’s power travels up in weight with him), but in terms of sheer skill, ring IQ and being able to stick to the game plan, this fight might be all-even.
Philly’s Fulton is going into the lion’s den, but he’s certain he will come out the same way he went in – as a two-belt champion. We could see a great one on July 25, just four days before we all tune in to watch the big one between Spence and Crawford. Talk about a hot summer schedule.
