Stephen Fulton does not hide his ambitions to rule in the 122-pound category.
In order to continue his quest towards the one who holds two belts, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Fulton had above all to win in front of Daniel Roman, and that is exactly what happened on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Fulton (21-0-0, 8 KOs) got the better of Roman after twelve rounds, enjoying two verdicts of 120-108 and a score of 119-109 on the cards of the three judges.
He thus easily retained his WBC and WBO super bantamweight division belts. It was the first time he had been called upon to defend them.
The 27-year-old Fulton also has his eye on Naoya Inoue, who is due to fight this week ahead of Nonito Donaire.
“I think I’ve been in the top 10 in the world pound for pound for quite a while,” Fulton said. But this victory is one more step towards being granted the recognition I deserve. »
Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs) was not new to the game, having defended his 122-pound title on four occasions before losing to Akhmadaliev in 2020 by split decision.
In the semi-finals of the evening, David Morrell managed to defend his WBA super middleweight belt, dominating Kalvin Henderson by K.-O. technique in the 4th round.
Morrell, who came to the United States in 2018 from Cuba, kept an immaculate record (7-0-0) and added a 6th knockout. on his file.
Henderson (15-2-1, 11 KOs) was in his first career title fight.
Kenichi Ogawa dethroned
Joe “The Welsh Wizard” Cordina (15-0, 9 KOs) dramatically dethroned IBF World Super Featherweight Champion Kenichi Ogawa (26-2-1, 18 KOs) at the second round on Saturday afternoon at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
Cordina remains undefeated in the professional ranks.
Cordina knocked Ogawa out with a massive punch. Under the impact, Ogawa immediately found himself on the mat.
The fight ended at 1:15 into the second assault.
