Naoya Inoue, Stephen Fulton talk 122-lb. title bout

Stephen Fulton and Naoya Inoue are engaged in talks for a unified 122-pound title fight in the spring in Japan, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Fulton, 28, is ESPN’s No. 1 boxer at 122 pounds; he holds two junior featherweight titles. Inoue, who is a major star in Japan, is ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer. “The Monster” unified all four 118-pound titles last month in Tokyo with an 11th-round KO of Paul Butler to capture the undisputed bantamweight championship.

Inoue, 29, announced on Friday that he’ll relinquish all four belts as he prepares to campaign at 122 pounds. A fight with Fulton would present an opportunity for Inoue to establish dominance in his new weight class right out of the gate.

Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) isn’t simply the best fighter at 122 pounds; he’s also one of the best fighters in all of boxing regardless of weight. And a fight featuring Fulton and Inoue is among the best matchups the sport can deliver.

Fulton, who hails from Philadelphia and has never fought outside of the United States, is promoted by PBC, while Inoue is co-promoted by Top Rank, two promotional companies who rarely do business with one another. However, Inoue’s Japanese promoter, Mr. Honda, drives the direction of the three-division champion’s career, especially when those fights are in Inoue’s homeland.

“I don’t think it’s far-fetched; I believe it’s realistic if [Inoue] comes up in time [before I move to 126 pounds],” Fulton told ESPN in June before he defeated Daniel Roman. “I don’t shy away from big fights. A lot of people wanna see [me vs. Inoue]; a lot of people wanna talk about that as well.

“Had I been more known like Inoue,” he added, “I’d be on that [pound-for-pound] list.”

Fulton and Brandon Figueroa were on a collision course for a rematch at 126 pounds after the WBC ordered the matchup in November for its interim featherweight title. Fulton scored a majority-decision victory over Figueroa when they met in one of the best action fights of 2021.

But now that Fulton has turned his attention to the high-stakes matchup with Inoue, Figueroa is finalizing a deal to fight former featherweight titleholder Mark Magsayo on March 4, sources said.

Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is one of the most dynamic fighters in all of boxing, a fighter with blinding speed who uses angles, punch variety and ring IQ to make quick work out of top contenders. He was involved in ESPN’s 2019 Fight of the Year when he pushed through a broken nose and fracture orbital to outpoint Nonito Donaire.

Inoue left no doubt in the rematch last June when he scored a second-round TKO of the future Hall of Famer.

If a deal can be struck to meet Fulton, Inoue will certainly meet his biggest – and toughest- challenge to date. Fulton is a career-long 122-pounder who can box from both the inside and outside and often throws upward of 1,000 punches.

Inoue, meanwhile, began his career at 108 pounds. And generational talents like Inoue often aren’t pushed to the brink until they continue to move up in weight. “The real battle starts from here,” Inoue said last week.