Naoya Inoue becomes four-weight world champ with BRUTAL win over Stephen Fulton as referee forced to stop fight

NAOYA INOUE ripped the unified super-bantamweight titles from Stephen Fulton in blistering fashion to become a FOUR-WEIGHT world champion.

The former undisputed bantamweight king moved up in weight to challenge Fulton for his WBC and WBO straps on Tuesday afternoon in front of a packed crowd at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

AP

Naoya Inoue challenged Stephen Fulton for the unified super-bantamweight titles[/caption]

AP

Defending unified super-bantamweight king Fulton was step behind Inoue from the get-go[/caption]

The Monster was hoping to cement his status as one of boxing‘s pound-for-pound kings with an emphatic victory over the American.

And he did just that with an eighth-round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Fulton to capture belts in his FOURTH weight class world champion.

Inoue set the pace from the get-go, taking the centre of the ring and being light on his feet as he tried to get reads on the American.

And get them he did as he began to find a home for his piston jab and rip-roaring body shots.

Fulton, surprisingly, offered very little in terms of offence.

Perhaps it was the magnitude of the occasion or fighting arguably boxing’s pound-for-pound king enemy territory which got to him.

But either way, he was a shell of the fighter we’ve seen in recent years.

He did, however, showcase some of his true self in round seven – which proved to be the penultimate stanza of the contest.

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Fulton found himself on the canvas just over 40 seconds into the eighth after eating a huge right hand and a follow-up left hook.

Inoue set up the stinging right with a stiff jab to the head of the American, who had been dealing with them to the body all night.

Fulton beat the count but was a wounded animal in need of a break.

That break, however, didn’t come as Inoue – one of the sport’s bests finishers – went in for the kill.

The 30-year-old cornered the American and began teeing off on him as he turtled up to try and protect himself.

But some of the stinging punches got through and prompted the referee to jump in and wave off the contest as he collapsed to the canvas after eating a hellacious left hook.

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