Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue dethroned WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton of the United States with an eighth-round technical knockout Tuesday in Tokyo.
Inoue took a dominant first step toward his goal of becoming the world's first boxer to sweep four championship belts in two weight divisions following last December's completion of the bantamweight sweep.
Marlon Tapales of the Philippines, currently holding the WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles, watched the Inoue-Fulton fight from the ringside at Ariake Arena.
After the match, in which Inoue was a challenger for the first time in five years, he and Tapales said they would fight to unify their titles.
The referee stopped the bout a little over one minute into the eighth when Inoue floored Fulton for the second time in the round with a combination of punches.
"I believe I was able to show my increased speed and power in this bout," said Inoue, nicknamed "Monster." "But I still have room to improve, so I'll get stronger as a super bantam."
Inoue then spoke to Tapales, asking him to face off later this year and unify all four belts.
Tapales entered the ring and replied, "I want to fight Naoya Inoue. I want to prove to myself that I'm a champion."
Inoue is now the second Japanese man to win world titles in four weight divisions after Kazuto Ioka achieved the feat in June 2019.
Inoue's quickness and power put Fulton under enormous pressure from the opening round.
After suffering a nosebleed in the third, the fighter from Philadelphia found his rhythm in the fourth and responded with some effective shots.
Inoue, however, turned up the heat as the fight wore on, landing devastating lefts and rights in the eighth round.
The 30-year-old Inoue improved to 25-0 in his career, with 22 wins by knockout, while the 29-year-old Fulton's record dropped to 21-1 with eight KOs.
Last December, Inoue became Japan's first and the world's ninth undisputed champion in boxing's four-belt era by completing a sweep of all four world bantamweight belts.
A month later, Inoue announced his decision to relinquish those four belts and move up to the super bantamweight category.
In June 2022, Inoue became the first Japanese to top the pound-for-pound rankings published by the prestigious Ring magazine.
Earlier Tuesday, Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba successfully defended his WBO featherweight championship with a fifth-round technical knockout of Japan's Satoshi Shimizu, a London Olympic bantamweight bronze medalist, who was fighting for his first world title.
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