The growing list of boxing personalities who sees Naoya Inoue claiming a fourth divisional crown includes one of his prior conquests.
Jason Moloney not only believes that Inoue will dethrone undefeated WBC/WBO junior featherweight titlist Stephen Fulton, but also in a fashion that won’t require the judges’ input.
“My prediction is Inoue via knockout or technical knockout in round eight,” Moloney told BoxingScene.com. “I think Fulton will try and use a lot of movement, try and keep things at long distance and attempt to outbox and catch Inoue as he comes in.
“Ultimately, I think Inoue is simply too good and I don’t think Fulton has the power to keep Inoue away. Inoue is so fast and so good at closing the distance that I think it’s a matter of time before he lands something big. I see this being a very impressive performance from Inoue and I think he eventually gets the statement making, stoppage victory.”
Moloney (26-2, 19KOs) suffered an October 2020 seventh-round knockout defeat to Inoue in his failed WBA/IBF bantamweight title challenge in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Australian has since won five straight, including a twelve-round, majority decision over Vincent Astrolabio. With the win, Moloney claimed the vacant WBO bantamweight title left behind when Inoue abdicated his undisputed bantamweight championship throne earlier this year.
Inoue (24-0, 21KOs) has also won titles at junior flyweight and junior bantamweight, both in wins versus the consensus top-rated fighter at the time. Similarly, Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) is widely regarded as the best junior featherweight in the world and either included in or just shy of the top ten on most pound-for-pound lists.
Still, Inoue’s level of dominance has left an impression on most boxing and betting experts. He enters Tuesday’s superfight as an increased betting favorite; bet365 lists him at -400, up from -365 where he has hovered for the past several weeks. Fulton is viewed by the same sportsbook as a +300 underdog to extend his title reign which dates back to his January 2021 points win over then-undefeated WBO titlist Angelo Leo.
Even those who pick Inoue outright don’t at all expect it to be a walkover.
“I’m really looking forward to this fight. Have to give both fighters credit for making this fight happen, it’s great for boxing,” noted Moloney. “This is interesting because we have Inoue moving up in weight again, now in his [fourth] division.
“Fulton will physically be the biggest fighter that Inoue has faced and he also presents a slick style that Inoue may not be too familiar with so he presents some new challenges.”
Fulton-Inoue takes place Tuesday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The event will stream on Lemino in Japan (5:30 p.m. JST) and ESPN+ in the U.S. (4:30 a.m. ET). Main event ring walks are expected to begin at 8:00 a.m. ET/9:00 p.m. local time.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox