Stephen Fulton Jr. (born July 17, 1994) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He has held world championships in two weight classes having held the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC)

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title since 1 February 2025 and previously the unified

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO) and WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...

titles from 2021 to 2023.

Professional career

Early career

Fulton made his professional debut against the journeyman Issac Badger on October 14, 2014. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Immediately after this victory, Fulton signed with Premier Boxing Champions. Over the course of the following five years, Fulton amassed a 15–0 record with 6 stoppage victories.

IBO super bantamweight champion

Fulton vs. Ambunda

Fulton was scheduled to challenge former WBO bantamweight champion and current IBO super bantamweight champion Paulus Ambunda on May 11, 2019, at the EagleBank Arena in

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, United States. Fulton dominated throughout the bout and scored a knockdown over the Namibian champion in the eight round. Although Fulton was unable to finish his opponent, he won the fight by a wide unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 120–107 in his favor.

Fulton vs. Avelar

Fulton moved up in weight for his next fight, as he was scheduled to face Isaac Avelar in a 124 lbs catchweight bout. The fight was set for August 24, 2019, at the Bert Ogden Arena in

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, United States. Fulton won the fight with a body shot in the sixth round of the ten round bout. Fulton called for a title unification fight with either Brandon Figueroa or Daniel Roman in his post-fight interview, stating "...Figueroa does not want to fight me and if he does, he will get stopped in the mid rounds. If me and Danny Roman fight, it will be explosive but the same thing will happen, he will get stopped".

WBO super bantamweight champion

Fulton vs. Khegai

Fulton was scheduled to face the unbeaten Arnold Khegai on January 25, 2020 at the

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, United States. The fight was for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight belt, as well as the status of the WBO super bantamweight mandatory title challenger. Khegai took the center of the ring for the first four rounds, while Fulton remained passive and attempted to outfight. Fulton was more active from the fifth round onward, dictating the subsequent rounds. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges awarding him a 117–111 scorecard, while the third judge scored the fight 116–112 in his favor.

Fulton vs. Leo

His victory against Khegai earned Fulton the right to challenge the reigning WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete. However, on July 11, 2020, Navarrete vacated the super bantamweight title in order to move up to featherweight. Fulton was scheduled to face

Angelo Leo Angelo Miguel Leo (born May 15, 1994) is an American professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF featherweight title since August 2024, and the WBO junior featherweight title from 2020 to 2021. Profe ...

for the vacant WBO super bantamweight title on August 1, 2020. On July 29, 2020, Fulton and two members of his team tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, forcing him to withdraw from the title fight. Leo was rescheduled to face Tramaine Williams, whom he beat by unanimous decision. On December 20, 2020, it was announced that Angelo Leo would make the first defense of his WBO super bantamweight title against Fulton. The fight was scheduled as the main event of a triple-header set for January 23, 2021, at the Park Theater in

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, United States. Leo appeared slower and less powerful than Fulton, who won almost every round of the bout. Fulton won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 119–109 and 119–109.

Unified super bantamweight champion

Fulton vs. Figueroa

Fulton was scheduled to face the WBC super bantamweight titlist Brandon Figueroa in a title unification bout on September 18, 2021, at the Park Theater in

, United States. The fight was originally set for September 11, but was pushed back a week, as PBC required a new main event following the negotiation breakdown between Canelo Alvarez and

Caleb Plant Caleb Hunter Plant (born July 8, 1992) is an American professional boxer who has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight title from 2019 to 2021 and the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim super middleweight title ...

. The fight was once again postponed on September 8, as Figueroa tested positive for

. The fight was rescheduled for November 27, 2021. Fulton entered the bout as a -340 favorite to win the bout. Fulton won by twelve rounds majority decision, with scores of 114-114 and two 116-112's for him. Figueroa out-landed Fulton 314 to 269 in total punches, although Fulton was the more accurate boxer, landing 37% of his punches to Figueroa's 29.6%. The majority of media members scored the fight in Fulton's favor.

Fulton vs. Roman

It was revealed on March 6, 2022, that Fulton would make his first title defense as a unified champion against former unified champion Daniel Roman, who was at the time the WBC mandatory super bantamweight title challenger, as well as the No. 1 ranked WBO super bantamweight contender. Fulton's first title defense as a unified champion headlined a Showtime broadcast card, which took place on 4 June 2022, at the Minneapolis Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fulton justified his role as the -550 betting favorite, as he won the fight by a wide unanimous decision in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,695. Judges Mike Fitzgerald and Patrick Morley scored the fight 120–108 for Fulton, while judge Nathan Palmer awarded Fulton a 119–109 scorecard. He out-landed Roman 218 to 113 in total punches (with a 36% accuracy rate) and 112 to 68 in power punches (with a 46% accuracy rate). Fulton called out the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

and IBF super bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev in his post-fight interview, stating: "You already know what’s next. I want urodjon Akhmadaliev I got to finish this up".

Fulton vs. Inoue

On November 9, 2022, the WBC formally approved Fulton's petition to face Brandon Figueroa for the interim WBC featherweight championship. As the reigning featherweight champion Rey Vargas moved up in weight to contest the vacant super featherweight title, the interim title fight would have been promoted to undisputed, had Vargas stayed at a higher weight class. Fulton and Figueroa faced each other a year prior in a unified title bout, with Fulton winning by majority decision. The fight was expected to take place on February 25, 2023, at the Minneapolis Armory in

Central, Minneapolis Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes the many old flour mills, the Mill District, and other historical and industri ...

. On January 16,

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reported that Figueroa would instead face Mark Magsayo, as Fulton had entered into negotiations with the former three-division world champion Naoya Inoue. The fight was expected to take place at the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

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on May 7, 2023, and was Fulton's first fight outside of the United States. The fight was postponed on March 21, as Inoue suffered a fist injury during training camp. The bout was rescheduled for July 25, 2023, at the Ariake Arena in

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, Japan. Fulton lost the fight by an eighth-round technical knockout.

Move to featherweight

Fulton vs. Castro

Fulton was scheduled to face Carlos Castro in a 10-round featherweight bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 14, 2024. He won the fight by split decision.

WBC featherweight champion

Fulton vs. Figueroa II

On October 10, 2024 it was announced that Fulton would face the current WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa at Toyota Center in Houston, TX on December 14, 2024. In November 2024 it was reported that the bout was scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on February 1, 2025. Fulton won the fight by unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Stephen Fulton - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Stephen 1994 births Living people American male boxers Boxers from Philadelphia African-American boxers National Golden Gloves champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions World featherweight boxing champions International Boxing Organization champions World Boxing Organization champions World Boxing Council champions 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen