STEPHEN FULTON says his mindset will be a key factor when he fights Naoya Inoue next month.
Their highly anticipated super-bantamweight clash takes place on July 25 at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Japan. It takes place just four days before Errol Spence and Terence Crawford put it all on the line in Las Vegas.
Inoue 24-0 (21) is moving up from bantamweight to take on the Philadelphian and his 24-fight record is a highlight reel for fans of devastating knockouts. During his guest appearance on the PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) podcast Fulton was asked how he will beat Inoue.
“Because I’m smart,” he answered.
“I believe in my mindset. I believe in my abilities. I’m very smart. There’s nothing I can’t out-think.
“I didn’t take this fight to go out there for money. That’s what other guys wanna do. That’s not my mindset. My mindset is strictly going over there because I know I can win, and I want to challenge myself while doing it. I want to put myself to the test. This is a huge f*****g fight. So why not try to live up to that moment? I didn’t just do this for money, it just so happened I was offered some nice money so that’s the icing on the cake so let’s go do it.”
The 28-year-old did not once break into trash talk or disregard Inoue in any way. Fulton is not over-confident; in fact, he sounds like a man in full control of his destiny. Two years ago, after beating Angelo Leo on points he predicted that one day he would fight Inoue in Japan.
“I got out the ring someone [and] came to me, an interview or something and said something about Inoue and I said who,” Fulton recalled.
“This was my first time ever hearing about him. I said I’m gonna fight him. I said I’m gonna go out to Japan. My coach said why would you go to Japan, I said it’s bigger out there. I wasn’t even talking about money. It’s bigger. It makes more sense out there, why wouldn’t it. I said literally I’ll defend my belts out there. He said why? And I was like coz no-one won’t do nothing like that. I’m different. I feel like that’s how my whole career has been.”
Fulton v Inoue carries the potential of a fight which will produce a bit of everything. Drama, excitement, and elite skillsets that you would come to expect from two of the world’s best. Fulton was asked how he pictured the fight playing out on July 25.
“I feel like it’s going to be a great fight, honestly,” he replied.
“I don’t wanna give too much because then I may start talking about the things I wanna do in the ring that may affect the impact of the decision and things like that. I feel like it’s going to be a great fight. Overall, I feel like it’s going to be an intriguing fight, a technical fight, a very skilful fight and [an] intelligent fight from both sides. Once we’re both in there [and] we’re warm anything can happen and that’s my honest opinion. Once we’re going at it and trying to out-think each other that s*** [is] gonna be beautiful.”