This is an updated replay of an exclusive Ring story published on February 8.
PHILADELPHIA — The only sound was their muffled footsteps as Stephen Fulton and his coach, Wahid Rahim, walked back to the locker room through the maze of Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. Fulton had just won his first major belt, beating Angelo Leo for the WBO junior featherweight title in January 2021, while COVID was still ongoing, so there was no one in the arena.
There was no applause. No fanfare. Just the sound of their footsteps.
That’s when Fulton turned to Rahim, who was wearing so many things (Fulton’s gloves, robe, banner, etc.) that he felt wrapped up like a leftover Christmas present, and said, “You know I’m going to have to go to Japan to fight (Naoya) Inoue. This is my path to becoming a superstar.
On Tuesday, July 25, in Tokyo, Japan, Fulton will face “The Monster”, the former undisputed bantamweight champion, who will challenge the 28-year-old Philadelphian for the WBC and WBO 122-pound belts.
This will be one of the first matchups of the year, absolutely huge in Japan and for the hardcore boxing community, but sadly, possibly nowhere else, as the lighter weight fighters are often overlooked by sports fans in general.
The Ring’s No. 1 junior featherweight doesn’t care. Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) is expected to earn around eight figures for the fight, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. He has the chance of a lifetime because beating Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), a three-division champion currently No. 2 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings, will make him the star he envisioned two years ago when he first thought of the clash.
No one except himself, his team and a few friends thinks he can go to Japan and win.
Again, “Cool Boy Steph” doesn’t care.
“Well, I like it like that,” Fulton said. “I remember talking to Wahid right after the Leo fight about Inoue. I went to Al Haymon to make the fight happen, and Al made the fight happen. I’m still with Al. He’s my guy. Every time I ask Al for something, he gets away with it.
“I’m not afraid to go to Japan and be screwed. When you know how to fight, and I know how to fight, you don’t care about the judges or any of that stuff.
“I’m the only world champion in Philadelphia (the Philadelphia Phillies lost the World Series and the Eagles lost the Super Bowl). It’s like no one knows. That’s why I said I would never fight in Philadelphia. I get more love across the country than in my own town. Alright, I’ll change that when I beat Inoue, and everyone will want to support me. They can keep the love. I don’t care at this point.
The one-day goal against Inoue was born from Fulton on that long walk to the locker room at Uncasville two years ago; long enough for a plan to develop.
Unifying two world titles and defeating 10 undefeated fighters on his way to the top of the 122-pound division hasn’t brought Stephen Fulton the respect he and his trainer believe he deserves. Photo by Esther Lin – SHOWTIME
“Scooter turned to me and said, ‘I’m going to have to go to Japan,’ and I remember I said, ‘What? What the fuck are you talking about?’ “He said, ‘I’m going to have to go to Japan to fight Inoue. He told me he had to. I thought Stephen was f—g crazy. I immediately thought of Roy Jones getting screwed in the Olympics (1988) by the South Koreans. (And) Inoue, at the time, was 118. I didn’t think about that at all.
“Scooter is incredibly confident. Confidence brings ability, but Stephen is also very smart. We don’t care if we’re treated fairly or not. They might treat us fairly in front of the cameras, but behind the cameras it might be different.
” We are used. We’ve been treated unfairly by the boxing community, the media, and as far as Philadelphia treats him, he hasn’t been treated fairly at all. Look at Inoue’s record, he fought an undefeated fighter. Stephen has fought 10. You could say the prejudice Stephen has had is because he is a smaller fighter, but Inoue is also a smaller fighter, and look at the attention his country gives him.
“If we didn’t have Al Haymon and PBC, we would be somewhere but far from where we are. They are the only ones to have supported us. Al made the fight possible. Stephen called Al and told him what he wanted to do. Al does what his fighters tell him to do. Al cares about his fighters and wants the best for them.
“People saw this go under Top Rank and immediately thought Scooter left Al. Wrong! The stupid media, the social media idiots, who don’t know anything, they thought Scooter left Al and PBC. The fight is not without Al.
Rahim then launched PBC fighters under Haymon who fought ini co-promotions or under other promotional banners, such as Deontay Wilder (twice against Tyson Fury), as well as Danny Jacobs, Shawn Porter, Jesse Vargas, Felix Diaz, Andy Ruiz and Thomas Dulorme.
In Japan, Inoue is Tom Brady and LeBron James combined. He has that crossover appeal.
Fulton wants a piece of that in the United States. That might be hard to find, considering he’s a smaller fighter.
“In Japan, Inoue is the biggest thing ever and he’s small,” Rahim said. “The Japanese stick together. In America, everything is scattered. If Scooter was Caucasian, he would be a superstar. He would be the greatest thing of all time right now because of the support behind him, because Caucasians are sticking together. I mean that in a respectful way. I like it, I like it a lot.
“In the black community, everything is scattered. If Scooter was Hispanic, he’d be the greatest thing ever, because of the same thing. Think about it. Scooter is not an American superstar. He should be. Boxing fans know him, and no one knows who Inoue is in this country, so, f—k no, Stephen isn’t getting the support from the black community that he should be getting. If he did, he wouldn’t have to go to another country to fight.
“We went to Vegas and the whole crowd was against him for the Brandon Figueroa fight. Mexican fighters are great fighters and Mexican fans are great fans supporting their fighters. I’m not mad at the Mexican fighters. I’m jealous of them. I’m honest. I’m not angry. I’m used to it.
“I’m jealous of them, because they get support from their people. We don’t. Stephen had to deal with that too against Figueroa. Why can’t the African American community support in the same way? We’ve been torn and separated like every other culture, and we never seem to be able to come together. If the black community knew how to stick together, Scooter wouldn’t have to.
“What Stephen does is break age-old curses. This little guy is the little engine that could. After Scooter does this, the African American community will still not support him.
Rahim maintained that Fulton is special. He has a special gift. He believes in himself. He is also honest with himself. He has great emotional intelligence.
“It’s kind of funny, people said Al wouldn’t take care of me, and look where I am, fighting for the biggest payday and in the biggest fight of my life,” Fulton said with a laugh. “That’s why I say great fights don’t happen more because of the fighters, not the promoters or the managers. I went to Al, asked him to make it happen, and he did. I will be honest. I don’t even care about the money. I love fighting. I’m the first to do things. I don’t care about other stuff. I do not care. Height, race, like me, hate me, I know who I am.
“I like what I do and I do it very well. There aren’t many world champions who can say that. When I win, everyone, the fans, the media, the boxing people, everyone who ignored me, will be on my junk. It’s not a big problem for me. I am a fighter. I was born a fighter. That’s what I’m supposed to do. And to anyone who doesn’t think I can win, well, f—k them. They made me do this. »
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has worked for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito
GET THE LATEST NUMBER AT THE RING SHOP (CLICK HERE)
The June-July 2023 Summer time Particular cowl was painted by Richard Slone.
