Naoya Inoue dominated and stopped Stephen Fulton Jr to win the WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles, becoming a four-division world champion.

Inoue (25-0, 22 KO) put Fulton away at 1:14 of the eighth round, ending what had been a pretty one-sided performance yet again from a man who has simply become true must-see TV no matter what time of day he’s fighting where you are in the world.

Fulton was down once, hard, prior to the stoppage, and tried to fight on, but Inoue’s a good finisher (this is an understatement), and he finished things off shortly after.

The 30-year-old Inoue pretty well controlled the fight from the opening round, while Fulton (21-1, 8 KO) just could not get any offense going at all, a massive credit to Inoue’s still sometimes-underrated pure boxing skill, along with the heavy hands and speed that made the 29-year-old Philadelphia native tentative to engage much.

Fulton was, simply, both out-boxed and overpowered here, which has been the general case for Inoue in his career, as he’s risen from 108 lbs now to 122, dominating at every division he’s graced. Fulton came into this fight the top dog in the game at this weight, and Inoue just ran him over, really.

In short, what we’re seeing here is a genuinely special fighter, and if you still need to be told “the hype is real” after all these years, maybe let this be the last time. The hype has been real for a long time.

(99) フルトン、井上尚弥に衝撃のTKO負けで王座陥落「強い選手だ。ジャブが見えなかった」　『WBC・WBO 世界スーパーバンタム級タイトルマッチ スティーブン・フルトンvs井上尚弥』試合後記者会見 – YouTube

Fulton vs Inoue highlights