Stephen Fulton Impressively Defends Unified Titles Against Daniel Roman!
At the Minneapolis Armory in Minnesota, unified 122-pound champion Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) took on former unified 122-pound champion Daniel “The Baby Faced Assassin” Roman (29-4-1, 10KOs).
Prior to this bout, Fulton had eked out a very close and somewhat debated majority decision victory against Brandon Figueroa last November. The win resulted in him becoming the unified IBF and WBC 122-pound champion. He would choose to move forward with Roman after talks for a rematch fell through.
In the case of Roman, the former champion came into this bout hungry to regain his unified status. He won the WBA Regular 122-pound title after forcing Adam Lopez to quit at the end of the ninth round. He would earn his shot at the super champion, Shun Kubo, stopping him in ten rounds. After making four title defenses, including his win over T.J. Doheny in which he unified the WBA and IBF titles, he would take on WBA mandatory challenger Murodjon Akhmadaliev, losing his title by split decision.
COMING OUT OF BOXING!
After his last two action-packed fights, Fulton came out with a completely different game plan. Instead of being suckered into a firefight, he came out in the first round pumping his jab and throwing a quick left hook. This caused the Roman to be stagnant in his offensive attack.
Round three is where the action picked up, as Roman was able to briefly catch Fulton on the ropes and land three uppercuts. Fulton would have success on the inside as he landed his left hook and straight right hand.
THE SPEED WAS JUST TOO MUCH!
As the fight went on, it became quite clear that Roman had no answer for the speed of Fulton. Whether it was the jab, left hook or straight right hand, Fulton just couldn’t miss. A normally very active fighter, Roman was relegated to following Cool Boy Steph around and getting countered in the process.
Round seven was the best round for the challenger as he was able to land some nice body shots. The champion, in the following rounds, would regain control of the fight as he upped his punch output as he started to sit down on his punches.
Rounds eleven and twelve were huge for Fulton as he reminded the challenger that he could stand and bang as well as box. He unloaded with bad intention, filled left hooks and straight right hands, as it was clear he was going for the knockout victory.
After a dominant one-sided twelve-round bout, Fulton would be announced as the winner by way of a unanimous decision. The scores were 119-09 and 120-108 twice.
Next up for Fulton is hopefully a undisputed showdown with the only other champion in the division, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who holds the WBA and IBF titles.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
