Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton agree £122 title bout

Stephen Fulton and Naoya Inoue have agreed terms for a 122-pound unified title fight in Japan in the spring, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Sources say Fulton’s WBC/WBO junior featherweight title fight is targeted for May, but no date has been set. Sources say the match will be streamed on ESPN+ on the state side in the morning.

Fulton, 28, is ESPN’s No. 1 boxer at 122 pounds. A big star in Japan, Inoue is ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer. Inoue, nicknamed “Monster”, unified all four of his titles in the 118-pound division last month in Tokyo, with Paul his butler in his 11th round, where he knocked everyone out. Recognized bantamweight champion.

The 29-year-old Inoue announced on Friday that he was giving up all four belts to prepare for his campaign at £122. A fight with Fulton would give Inoue an opportunity to establish dominance in his new rank.

Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) isn’t just the best fighter at 122 pounds. He’s also one of the best regardless of weight, and the fight between Fulton and Inoue is one of the best matchups the sport has to offer.

Fulton, who hails from Philadelphia and has never fought outside the United States, is promoted by PBC, while Inoue is co-promoted by Top Rank. However, Inoue’s Japanese promoter, Honda, will push the career direction of the three-division champion, especially if those fights are in Inoue’s hometown.

Fulton told ESPN in June that he believed a fight with Inoue would be “realistic” if he moved up to 122 pounds.

“I don’t shy away from big fights,” Fulton said. “A lot of people want to see [me vs. Inoue]many people want to talk about it too.

“I wish I was more known like Inoue,” he added. [pound-for-pound] list. “

Fulton and Brandon Figueroa were on a clash course for a rematch at 126 pounds after the WBC ordered a match for the interim featherweight title in November. Fulton emerged victorious by majority decision when he faced Figueroa in one of his best action fights of 2021.

But now that Fulton has turned his attention to a high-stakes matchup with Inoue, Figueroa is finalizing a deal to fight former featherweight titleholder Mark Magsayo on March 4, sources said.

Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is one of boxing’s most dynamic fighters, possessing dizzying speed and using angles, punch versatility and ring IQ to break from the top contenders. get the job done. He entered his 2019 Fight of the Year on ESPN, going through his broken nose and broken eye socket, and defeated Nonito his Donaire.

Inoue was in no doubt when he scored a two-round TKO of the future Hall of Famer in a rematch last June.

Against Fulton, Inoue will undoubtedly have his biggest and toughest challenge yet. With his career-long 122-pounder, Fulton can box from both the inside and the outside, and in matches he often throws over 1,000 punches.

Inoue, on the other hand, started his career at 108 pounds. A generational talent like Inoue isn’t often pushed to the brink until his weight continues to grow.

“The real fight starts here,” Inoue said last week.