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STEPHEN FULTON JR. BELIEVES HE WILL “FOR SURE” KNOCKOUT BRANDON FIGUEROA

Stephen Fulton Jr. is confident that he’ll end things early when he meets WBC and WBA (Regular) titleholder Brandon Figueroa in a highly anticipated 122-pound unification bout. 

The 26-year-old Fulton, a native of Philadelphia, is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Angelo Leo earlier this year. Not only did the win earn Fulton his first world title, but it set up the bout against Figueroa, which will headline an event on Showtime on September 11. 

Figueroa is coming off a big win himself, as he stopped Luis Nery in seven rounds last month to unify the WBA (Regular) and WBC titles. However, Fulton believes the 24-year-old will be too one-dimensional on fight night. 

“He doesn’t use his range, he doesn’t use his height, so technically I’ll be the bigger fighter, I’ll be the taller fighter, I’ll be the rangier fighter, he doesn’t use it,” said Fulton in an interview with Brian Custer on a recent edition of the Last Stand Podcast.

“He doesn’t know how to use those abilities that he has. He only has one way to fight… yes, for sure [the fight will end in a knockout win for me].”

A win over Figueroa would not only add another marquee name to Fulton’s resume, but it would make him a unified champion at Super Bantamweight. He also feels as if a victory would garner him recognition from the boxing community as a whole. 

“When I become victorious over Brandon, I believe I’ll be considered in the pound-for-pound [list],” said Fulton. “Not only that, I believe I will have the fight of the year candidate, and after that, I see I could be fighter of the year.”

However, that doesn’t seem to be the primary goal of the fighter known as “Cool Boy Steph.” Instead, Fulton revealed that he intends to become an undisputed champion at 122 pounds, a feat that has never been accomplished before. 

To accomplish that goal, Fulton would likely need to land a future bout against reigning WBA (Super) and IBF champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Then, with a victory, he would consider taking his talents north to the Featherweight division. 

“There’s never been an undisputed champion at 122. I need to be the first to do that … and then move up and probably face [Emanuel] Navarrete for that WBO [world title],” said Fulton. 

Aside from moving up in weight, a fight against unified 118-pound titleholder and pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue could be a potential bout down the line for Fulton as well. In discussing this potential matchup, the unbeaten Philadelphian’s confidence didn’t waver one bit. 

“I see me wiping him out clean,” Fulton said. “He’s too small for me, he’s too short, his reach isn’t there. I’m not going to sit there for those power shots all the time. He’s good, but he’s not better than me. I believe what happened to Nery [when Figueroa knocked him out last month] will happen to him.”

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