According to BoxingScene.com, the long-awaited championship match between Stephen Fulton and Naoya Inoue will be held on May 7th, 2023, at the Yokohama Arena, Japan.
Fulton is set to protect his junior featherweight championship titles from the WBC and WBO against Inoue, who gave up his undisputed bantamweight championship titles to aim for his fourth division title.
Fulton, an undefeated boxer with a record of 21-0 and 8 knockouts, has been vocal about his desire for high-profile fights ever since he became a title contender.
He specifically mentioned wanting to face Inoue and Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who currently holds the WBA/IBF belts in the 122-pound weight class.
OFFICIAL 🚨@NaoyaInoue_410 will challenge @CoolBoySteph for the Unified Junior Featherweight titles 🏆🏆#FultonInoue | MAY 7 | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/p94HKWXXY9
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) March 6, 2023
Meanwhile, following his historic win over Paul Butler, Japanese boxer Inoue (24-0, 21KOs) vacated the bantamweight championship title, making way for a new champion.
Inoue had become the first Asian fighter to hold undisputed champion status in the multi-belt era after knocking out Butler in the eleventh round of their unification match on December 13th, 2022.
During his last fight at Yokohama Arena, Inoue delivered his most memorable knockout yet. He defeated former bantamweight champion Juan Carlos Payano in just 70 seconds in front of his enthusiastic hometown supporters.
With that being said, we can expect plenty of fireworks on Inoue’s return to Japan.