Stephen Fulton Jr. has been the kind of fighter you wanted to avoid, slick, resourceful, durable. One of the hardest outs in boxing.
Now things are different. Fulton is a unified 122-pound champion, meaning potential opponents in his division who dream of greatness must go through him if they hope to get to the top.
Next up: Daniel Roman, his foe on Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis (Showtime).
Fulton had hoped to face Roman when the latter was a unified beltholder a few years ago but the fight never happened as Roman would lose his titles to Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
“It feels good to be in the position and be the hunted,” Fulton said. “It feels good to be in this position because I’ve called him out when he had his titles and they didn’t look my direction. But then when they didn’t have the titles they looked my direction because I had it.
“Now I’m giving him the opportunity that he didn’t give me.”
Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs) hasn’t taken an easy road to get where he is. As he pointed out, his last four opponents were unbeaten.
The Philadelphian stopped Isaac Avelar in 2019, outpointed Arnold Khegai the following year, decisioned tough Angelo Leo to win the WBO title in January of last year and added the WBC belt by narrowly outpointing Brandon Figueroa last November.
The Figueroa fight was a true test of his ability and resolve.
“You’ve all seen I can fight on the inside, I can fight on the outside,” Fulton said. “I can fight whichever way I want. So how I wake up Saturday morning is going to determine how I fight Saturday night.
“I can do whatever I want. I don’t have one style to me.”
Fulton is versatile but he’s a boxer first, as is Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs). Figueroa’s relentless pressure posed a significant problem for the champion, who won a majority decision . Roman’s polished skills could present different challenges.
Again, though, he hasn’t taken an easy path toward recognition as one of the best in the business. This is nothing new for him.
“The last four fighters I faced were undefeated, so I’m used to this road,” he said. “I always step up to the occasion. I always show up when I get to these stages. My whole life has been like that. Right now I am living in the moment. I haven’t been looking past anything. We’re living for today.
“So when Saturday comes, I’m going to live for it and have fun, and I’m going to enjoy it. I’m going to enjoy defeating him.”
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