It's already understood that he is the crowd favorite because he is a very popular fighter. Per
https://www.ringtv.com/ratings/, Inoue is ranked number 2 in the pound for pound ranking, that's how popular he is, and as he keeps winning impressively, eventually he will get the top spot. I don't know, maybe other source will already give him the number 1 spot.
I guess not that easy because Canelo Alvarez is still holding his throne and that won't be easy for Inoue to replace, although I know his time will come sooner because he's much younger than Canelo and eventually he will replace him. Aside from that, the only possible way for Inoue to get the P4P King title is if Canelo will have another defeat.
Back to the fight, this will be indeed a challenge for Fulton and I'm excited what would be his move against Inoue because he's still the champion here and I expect that he will not give that belt easily as Fulton himself wanted this fight before he jumps to the next weight class.
On most rankings lists that I have seen recently Inoue already outranks Canelo and he is only outranked by Usyk, and in some rankings Crawford appears ahead of him while on others Inoue is already ahead of him, however I do not see Usyk unifying all the belts at the heavyweight division if he has to fight against Fury, however Inoue could do this at the super bantamweight, which in my mind it will make him the best boxer pound for pound.
I agree. This will probably shut down all the doubts about him. Because whether we like it or not, there are still fans that think he is just good at his own weight class where he dominated but not on this one.
Well, that also determines that he still has something to prove and he should take it in an optimistic way. There's still a challenge, the competition is still broad, there are very good boxers in this weight that he entered and he should get past them first.
I am watching different analysts on this bout and it is still a mixed prediction about what will happen on fight night.
Around 60 percent (my watched analysis) are vouching that Inoue will win it and the rest for Stephen Fulton.
For gamblers, it's a good sign, we don't like a 1.03 - 1.10 odds being listed as we cannot make our bets for the favorite.
Well, making a comparison not based on statistics, because I know that they are very precise on occasions, but there is also something that mathematics cannot measure, and that is the emotions and the degree of motivation that one has, on the one hand Inoue is testing or he will try a new category, which he has to get into his head that the blows will hurt him much more and a knockout is more dangerous, but he also has to become much stronger, it is no longer a simple category, now well , Fulton will defend his category and try to give Inoue a good surprise and show him that this is not like what he won, something like this is for big children, so maybe things for this fight can be seen with that tint, which in my opinion is still very exciting, but I am not sure that he will be able to win like when he was in his previous category.
and:
Brandon Figueroa: I Really Wanted That Rematch With Fulton, I Feel Like It’ll Happen In The Future
Brandon Figueroa was surprised and disappointed when he learned Stephen Fulton Jr. agreed to fight Naoya Inoue next, not him.
Figueroa figures that his rematch with Fulton will still happen at some point. Figueroa had hoped, however, to get the opportunity to avenge his lone loss in his next fight.
Now that Fulton is committed to opposing one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport, Figueroa’s full focus is on meeting Mark Magsayo for the WBC interim featherweight championship March 4 at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
The date and site of the Inoue-Fulton fight haven’t been announced, but Fulton has publicly acknowledged that he will defend his WBC and WBO 122-pound crowns versus Inoue next in Inoue’s home country of Japan.
Source:
https://www.boxingscene.com/brandon-figueroa-i-really-wanted-rematch-with-fulton-i-feel-like-itll-happen-future--172514
