Final Thoughts On Fulton / Inoue

I rewatched the fight and stand by my 7-0 scorecard. Inoue won the 7th.

 

Indeed, congrats Monster! Unify then stay a bit, then move up one more time for greatness and potentially unify too, then move back if needed. Naoya had somewhat new thick legs there, though his face there still looked bony, so I expect him to become stockier his next few fights there and of course after if he moves up again. Awesome that after Manny, another Asian like him to fill the void left by Pacquiao.

 

The only way Crawford can top this is to go up against a bigger fighter who is top of his division, like Charlo, and knock him out.

 

Fulton is a skilled and tough fighter and worthy of being a belt holder. As much of a fan of Inoue that I am, initially I expected this to be a real tough outing for 'The Monster'. I get irked pretty easy though and after the accusations from Fulton's side about 'loaded glives' etc. I wanted Naoya to give him a good hiding and he did. So that made me happy. Disrespect a living legend and you ****ing pay for it. Nice .

 

I had Inoue winning all the rounds but if you had to give Fulton a pity round it was the 7th which is what the judges gave him a pity round because he was getting dominated.

Fulton clearly was never a bum, bums don't win titles. But he also was never the elite level P4P level fighter some of his fans were saying he was which is why I always had Inoue a big favourite in this fight.

Fulton is a good fighter but he's not a great one and it will take a great one to beat Inoue. Too many people gave too much credence to the fact he was a unified champion, but question is who had he beaten that was even that good? Belts alone don't make you a great fighter, you have to see who they have beaten and their actual skills and to me it was clear Fulton was never on Inoue's level as we saw during their fight.

I mean look at Tapales he's a unified champion yet he'll be a massive underdog vs Inoue, same with Taylor when he was undisputed another fighter who just because he'd picked up a bunch of belts vs decent but not exceptional fighters was suddenly seen as top 5 P4P when his skills simply were never that impressive to me. Focus less on their belts and more on their resume and skills.

Reality is 122 and even 126 are not particularly deep divisions, we have no Barrera's, Morales, Marquez's or even Hamed's around to stop Inoue he's going to rip through both divisions without much resistance. It's only if he gets to 130 and above where the size and weight disparity maybe too much that we begin to really see the limits of Inoue tested.

 

I remember Lopez vs Loma to an extent. Loma was wary of Lopez' power early but managed to think and overcome it as the rounds go by.

Fulton never overcame and never really strategized to counter Inoue, he got some good shots here and there but he lacked the power to make Inoue think twice.. He got ****ing ran over.

 

Yea round 7 was definitely a better round for Fulton but i think Inoues work was slightly better. But I can see round 7 being scored to Fulton.

 

I set my alarm for 8 am and slept through it because I only went to bed 4 hours beforehand. Then I watched the fight on youtube.

 

I just rewatched the entire fight as well and I agree with you. Inoue swept all the rounds. His boxing skills are just fantastic! What a great week for boxing fans this is. I can't wait for Crawford vs Spence in a few days.

 

Just sat down again with the Japanese replay on Lemino.

The close round (or sympathy round) was Round 5. And the judges scoring reflected that. There was nothing between the two in terms of quality shots landed. It just depends whether you prefer Inoue's aggression or Fulton's defence.

Round 7 was clear for Fulton. He landed the bigger shots, stunning Inoue half way through the round. Inoue certainly responded well and was certainly coming forward but it was ineffective aggression for the most part, landing on gloves, elbows, or swinging wildly where Fulton's head used to be. His best shot of the round was a left to Fulton's belt line. And a cross in the early stages.

I'm just going to say it...When all three overseas judges are scoring it for Fulton, perhaps Inoue didn't actually sweep it 7-0 plus a TKO

/Ducks for cover

 

Japanese boxing grows on you. The silence seems weird at first, but the atmosphere of respect and admiration for fighters and what they do (even among the foreigners the overall mannerism is adjusted) elevates the event to something more than money, record, and pride, creating a cultural, spiritual almost, plane of symbolism and meaning.

Cubans and their strong connection of boxing and art is another enriching angle.