Naoya Inoue Injured, May 7 Fight vs. Stephen Fulton Jr Called Off

Undefeated Japanese boxing ace Naoya Inoue was all set to return to the squared circle nearly six months since his last victory, but due to an injury suffered by the former three division champion, his return is now postponed.

Naoya Inoue vs. Stephen Fulton Jr postponed but still happening

As per the report made by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, the former undisputed bantamweight world champion suffered an injury in training and postponed the fight scheduled for 7th May at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Aus. Japan, Inoue’s hometown, against Stephen Fulton Jr, the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titleholder.

The American boxer further confirmed the news via his Twitter handle on Tuesday, as well as added that and a future date has already been discussed.

“We got a date relax it’s still happening,” tweeted Fulton Jr.

We got a date relax it’s still happening

— 100 Billion (@coolboysteph) March 21, 2023

Inoue, who unified the WBC, WBA (Super), WBO, and the IBF bantamweight titles in December last year, made the decision to to jump up in class, aiming to become a four division champion at super bantamweight, but that plan has to be put on holds, for the time being.

A highly anticipated bout, Fulton vs. Inoue it will be duel between two undefeated pugilists. Inoue has 24 professional wins, 21 of them by knockouts. On the other hand, Fulton has been victorious 21 times, with 8 of them coming via knockouts.

Considered to be one of the top three boxers in his division, Inoue’s 11th round knockout over England’s Paul Butler (34−3, 15 KOs) on December 13th last year made him the first undisputed bantamweight world champion of the four-belt era.