By: Hans Themistode
Over the past few weeks, Stephen Fulton was asked to put on his analysis cap.
The WBO super bantamweight world champion was bombarded with numerous questions pertaining to the showdown between WBC titlist Luis Nery and WBA ‘Regular’ champion Brandon Figueroa. Although the betting public leaned heavily towards Nery, Fulton went against the grain and sided with Figueroa.
After seven rounds of back and fourth action last night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs) was proven to be right as Figueroa pulled off the upset win, stopping his man in the seventh with a shot to the midsection. While many were surprised with the end result, Fulton simply shrugged his shoulders as he wasn’t surprised.
“I knew it was going to be him,” said Fulton during an interview with Behind The Gloves. “I didn’t expect it to be a body shot but I knew he would eventually finish him.”
Fulton, 26, clapped his hands and smiled once Figueroa was given the victory. The jubilation for the Philadelphia native stems from knowing that he’ll now have an opportunity to become a unified champion.
Long before both Nery and Figueroa stepped into the ring against one another, it was revealed that the winner of their contest would take on Fulton immediately after. Despite Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs) putting on a strong performance, Fulton was ultimately left unimpressed with his future opponent.
“It was an ok performance. He got hit a lot, slow punches and a lot of misses.”
Calling Fulton a confident fighter would be putting it mildly. A similar amount of hubris was shown by the young star during the buildup of his showdown against Angelo Leo. The two clashed earlier this year with Leo’s WBO title on the line. While he sported an undefeated record, Fulton couldn’t care less as he easily outboxed and outmuscled his man en route to winning his first world title.
Now, after watching his future opponent up close and personal, Fulton simply believes that in just a few more months, he’ll be wrapping even more gold around his waist.
“I’m the more slicker fighter and more accurate puncher.”