‘Cool it” with “The Monster”

Japanese Naoya “Monster” Inoue conquered the bantamweight division and now…He`s moving up in weight to seek the 122-pound title.

WBC and WBO super bantamweight world champion from Philadelphia, Stephen Fulton “Cool Boy Steph” will defend his titles against one of the hardest hitting pound-for-pound fighters, per round, around on July 25 at Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku, Japan.

Originally both warriors were going to clash on May 7 but due to Inoue’s injury to one of his fists, it had to be postponed.

Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) 19-0 with 17 knockouts in world title fights, a championship streak that began in 2014 when he knocked out Adrián Hernández for the WBC light flyweight world title.

He then went on to rule the super flyweight division with seven title defenses, including a second-round knockout of Omar Narváez. At bantamweight, Inoue became the division’s first undisputed champion in half a century, defeating Emmanuel Rodríguez in two rounds to win the IBF belt, beating Nonito Donaire in the 2019 Fight of the Year to add the IBF belt. defeating Donaire in the second round in their June 2022 rematch to wrest the WBC title from him and defeat then-WBO champion Paul Butler in round 11.

Inoue vacated all four bantamweight titles to move up four pounds for a chance to conquer new horizons.

Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) turned pro in 2014 and defeated five undefeated prospects in his first 12 bouts. In January 2021, he defeated Angelo Leo to capture the WBO World Super Bantamweight Title.

Ten months later, he added the WBC belt to his collection with a majority decision over then-undefeated Brandon Figueroa in one of the most action-packed championship matchups of the year. Fulton defended both titles last June with a unanimous decision over former unified world champion Daniel Roman. Fulton will enter the Inoue fight, his first outside of American soil, after an 11-month layoff. However, Stephen, 28, is the naturally larger man, with advantages in height and reach.