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Boxing: 'Monster' Inoue beats Fulton to claim two world titles

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Tomohiro OSAKI, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Naoya Inoue of Japan arrives on the ring for his fight against Michael Dasmarinas of the Philippines, a 12 round WBA/IBF Bantamweight title fight at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 19, 2021. Etienne Laurent, EPA-EFE/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/26/072623_box_naoya-inoue_epa.jpg"/><figcaption>Naoya Inoue of Japan arrives on the ring for his fight against Michael Dasmarinas of the Philippines, a 12 round WBA/IBF Bantamweight title fight at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 19, 2021. Etienne Laurent, EPA-EFE/File.</figcaption></figure></div>TOKYO, Japan -- Japan&#x27;s Naoya Inoue knocked out American Stephen Fulton in his super-bantamweight debut to claim the WBC and WBO world titles in Tokyo on Tuesday.The unbeaten Inoue, nicknamed &quot;Monster&quot;, floored Fulton in the eighth round with a volley of juddering punches.He took his record to 25-0, with 22 knock-outs, dethroning 29-year-old Fulton -- one of the two world champions in the super-bantamweight division along with Marlon Tapales of the Philippines.&quot;In the super-bantamweight division, I think I can grow even stronger,&quot; Inoue told a roaring crowd at the Ariake Arena after the fight.&quot;But I only hold two belts now -- my goal is to unify all the four super-bantamweight titles.&quot;In December, Inoue became the first undisputed world bantamweight champion in half a century -- a feat last accomplished by Panama&#x27;s Enrique Pinder in 1972 -- by beating England&#x27;s Paul Butler to add the WBO title to his WBC, WBA and IBF belts.Then in January, Inoue relinquished all his titles to move up to the super-bantamweight division.While Fulton proved tenacious and returned fire with some clean shots, the Japanese boxer lived up to his nickname.A ferocious right followed by a left hook knocked Fulton to the canvas in the eighth round.Fulton got back up, but Inoue&#x27;s rapid fire punches drove him deep into the corner and onto the canvas, persuading the referee to call a technical knockout.&quot;I&#x27;m very disappointed in myself and my performance,&quot; Fulton told reporters after the fight, but added that he &quot;doesn&#x27;t feel bad&quot;.&quot;He was a great fighter -- that&#x27;s why he got to win today,&quot; the American said of his opponent.Tuesday&#x27;s victory means 30-year-old Inoue has now held world titles in four different weight divisions, after previously claiming belts in light-flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight.Tapales of the Philippines was at the fight and afterwards declared his intention to take on Inoue &quot;to prove (to) myself that I&#x27;m champion&quot;.It was just the latest boxing feat by the fierce-punching Inoue, who with his December knock-out win over Butler became only the ninth undisputed world champion since the four-belt era began in 2004.Last year, Inoue also became the first Japanese boxer to top Ring Magazine&#x27;s prestigious pound-for-pound rankings as the best fighter across all weight divisions.Fulton&#x27;s last fight was a unanimous points decision win over Daniel Roman in June last year.© Agence France-Presse

Japan's Naoya Inoue knocked out American Stephen Fulton in his super-bantamweight debut to claim the WBC and WBO world titles in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Boxing: 'Monster' Inoue beats Fulton to claim two world titles

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Boxing: 'Monster' Inoue beats Fulton to claim two world titles

Tomohiro OSAKI,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jul 26, 2023 02:06 PM PHT

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boxing

super-bantamweight boxing

Stephen Fulton

Naoya Inoue

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