Fight hasn’t been made official yet but is still in the works right now. They seem to be looking at May as a potential date with the venue set in Japan. Could be close to being a done deal. Hopefully this fight gets made soon. This is another great match up between 2 elite fighters. Can Inoue pull it off and win another strap in his 4th weight class? Or does Fulton put a halt on the Monster’s rampage? 2023 definitely looking very promising.
Fulton is a good fighter but he's quite overrated imo. I don't see him anywhere close to a p4p'ers while Inoue is amongst the top 3. The big question is of course how Inoue deals with the extra weight and size of Fulton but I expect him to dominate nonetheless.
It's the matchup I'm looking forward to second most on the upcoming schedule. The only fight I'm looking forward to more is Taylor-Lopez. Cool Boy Steph will give a good account of himself I believe, but I expect Inoue to break him down and stop him inside of 10.
Gotta admit we seem to be getting spoiled this year with some great fights coming up after 2022 subpar year. David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant Jose Ramirez vs Richard Commey Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Eimantas Stanionis Tank Davis vs Ryan García Joe Joyce vs Zhang Zhilei Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez Devin Haney vs Vasyl Lomachenko If we manage to get Fury vs Usyk, Bivol vs Beterbiev, and Crawford vs Spence (by a miracle) later this year then 2023 will undoubtedly be one of the best year of boxing in recent time.
Sadly that might be the case but I’m still having a little hope that it’ll happen eventually. If either Fury vs Usyk and Bivol vs Beterbiev do indeed happen then that will already make this year huge for boxing.
Recent interview on Fulton’s thoughts regarding Inoue. He sounds like he’s confident about his chances but I don’t know if that’s just him trying to convince himself. He’s really underestimating Inoue's skills and thinking that Inoue is just a puncher with little boxing IQ. That kind of thought process about your opponent, who has shown to be more than just a puncher, could play against him. “I feel like I’m just gonna show swag in this fight, show style, show class,” Fulton told Custer during a recent episode of his “Last Stand Podcast,” which is available on YouTube. “I feel like I’m gonna out-class him. I feel like the power’s not gonna matter to me. The power may matter to the fans, because they lookin’ at the records. But who have he fought of my significance, of my style? Who has he fought? We seen everyone comes forward to him and try and dog him out, and then get hit with some crazy shots. You never seen someone [against Inoue] who can mix it up like me. I have a style for every fighter. And it shows." "Power don’t just win fights,” Fulton said. “I’m smart. How you think I got here? My skills, my mindset, my speed, my slickness. And guess what? Everybody say I don’t got power until they get in there, and these guys is not fighting everybody how they used to fight these guys. So, I feel like you can’t speak on power when everyone wear them eight-ounce gloves, everyone has power. You feel every punch.”
Fight is finally official for May 7. Let’s fucking go. OFFICIAL: Naoya Inoue Vs Stephen Fulton On May 7 At Yokohama Stadium - Boxing News 24/7
Damn that sucks but shit like that always happens in boxing unfortunately. Hopefully it’ll just be pushed sometime around June or July.
Fulton-Inoue to be rescheduled for July. The official July date to be announced soon. Overall, not the end of the world. So now we got, Davis-Garcia in April. Haney-Loma in May. Taylor-Fimo in June. Fulton-Inoue in July. 2023 is kickin ass.
Glad to see they already got a scheduled date. Can’t wait for this. We have big fights coming up for April, May, June, and July. Great time to be a boxing fan.
I wouldn't go that far... Spence-Bud is a 50-50 fight between two top 3-5 P4P guys. Fulton isn't quite in the class of any top 10 P4P fighter, and this matchup ain't a pick em. Inoue is rightfully the clear favorite.
