West Philly’s Stephen Fulton to defend world title against Naoya Inoue in Japan

Stephen Fulton, Philadelphia’s lone boxing world champion, will travel in May to Japan for the biggest fight of his career.

The 28-year old from West Philly will defend his super bantamweight titles against bantamweight king Naoya Inoue on May 7 at the Yokohama Arena. The fight — which is Inoue’s first in a heavier weight class — will air live in a Sunday morning telecast on ESPN+.

Fulton (21-0, eight knockouts) won his only fight in 2022 by scoring a unanimous decision in June over Danny Roman. In 2021, he decisioned a pair of champions — Angelo Lee and Brandon Figueroa — to become a unified champion at 122 pounds.

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Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) won world titles in three weight classes and was the undisputed champion of the 118-pound bantamweight division. He’s ranked No. 2 in the world on both ESPN and Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Nicknamed “Monster,” Inoue has won all 19 of his title fights, 17 of which came via knockout. He vacated his bantamweight titles after an 11th-round KO of England’s Paul Butler in December. Inoue opted against a tune-up fight in the new weight class, choosing to immediately challenge the champion.

This will be Fulton’s first pro fight outside the U.S. as he’ll defend his titles on Inoue’s home soil. The 29-year-old Inoue lives in Yokohama and his last three fights have been in Japan.