Inoue, 30, knocked down American Fulton in the eighth round at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena in front of his home crowd. He then threw a torrent of blows until the referee stopped the fight.
One of the top active boxers in the world, Inoue gave up the undisputed bantamweight crown to contend for the unified championship.
He has now prevailed in all 24 of his professional contests, while Fulton suffers his first defeat in 22 fights.
Marlon Tapales, the WBA and IBF champions, entered the ring after the fight and shook hands with Inoue, who is attempting to become an undisputed two-weight champion.
Inoue, who had just been proclaimed the winner, urged the Filipino, “Let’s do this this year.”
Inoue proved why many consider him to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world in one of the most anticipated matches of 2023 between two exceptional boxers in their prime.The ‘Monster’ was known for his brutal strength and knockout power, but in the early rounds, it was his agility around the ring that stood out.
He guided Fulton down while employing a great head and body jab and landed deft combinations.
Fulton, a skilled counterpuncher, was helpless to stop the champion from bleeding out in the third round. In a frenetic fifth, both fighters traded combinations, but it was Inoue’s punches’ precision, acuity, and venom that stood out.
With a powerful right over the home fighter’s guard in the seventh, the Philadelphia boxer drew Inoue’s attention.But Inoue had a brilliant and beautiful moment in the subsequent round. He moved backward, delivered an explosive right to the head after throwing a jab to the gut. Inoue delivered a powerful left hook to a dazed Fulton, knocking him to the ground.
As soon as Fulton managed to surpass the count, Inoue started to prematurely rejoice. With two minutes left in round eight, Inoue cornered Fulton and resumed the assault. The referee intervened just as Fulton was about to go to his knees.
Since going pro in 2012, Inoue has already defeated 22 opponents, a ratio that is all the more remarkable given that Inoue fights in lower weight classes where knockouts are typically more difficult to pull off.
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