A former unified world champion is making his comeback to the ring almost a year after his first loss and will do so on the undercard of Gervonta Davis’s fight with Frank Martin.
That man is Stephen Fulton, who previously held the WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles and is currently ranked No. 1 by The Ring in the 122-pound division.
Set to make his return on June 15th, Fulton will face Luis Reynoldo Nunez as part of the Premier Boxing Champions Amazon Prime PPV event.
With a record of 21 wins and 1 loss, with 8 knockouts, Fulton is making a move up to featherweight for this bout. His opponent, the undefeated New York-based Nunez, holds a record of 19 wins, with 13 of those victories coming by knockout.
The anticipated showdown between Fulton and Nunez is expected to be for the vacant WBA featherweight title, a title that might become available following Ray Ford’s title defence against Nick Ball on June 1st.
Fulton’s return to the ring comes with notable changes in his corner. Bozy Ennis, renowned as the father, manager, and trainer of Boots Ennis, will now take on the role of training Fulton. Meanwhile, Wahid Rahim will step aside as trainer but will remain as Fulton’s manager.
Speaking to Ring Magazine, Fulton explained the situation.
“I am still with my man Wahid, people need to know that, but Bozy will be training me. Wahid is my manager. I trust him. We both think this is what is best for me. I wanted to come back at 130 but will come back at 126 and the plan is for the WBA title. That’s my understanding, it will be against Nunez for the vacant WBA title.
“I have been around Bozy a lot and we know each other really well. I have been training and been around Bozy and Boots through the years. I know how they work and maybe there are some things that they see in me that I haven’t seen in myself yet.”
Fulton has been in training since last September following his loss in July by knockout to the great Naoya Inoue who went on to be named the 2023 Fighter of the Year, a title he added to The Ring’s junior featherweight world champion and the unified IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO belts. Fulton says he learned a lot from that fight.
“I should have trained harder than I did. Other than that, I do not want to say too much about that. I think my mindset is more different. I have added to my arsenal. I am over it.
“I am just completely comfortable with speaking about it. I feel like I could have done far better than I did. People pushed a narrative on me that do not know what they are talking about. I was killing myself to make 122.”
He is now looking ahead and promising a big return to the ring and stated that his desire is to become a three-time world champion this year.
“That starts June 15. That is what I was told. I can’t wait. The only one who can stop me is me. I feel like that about my last fight, too. I could have trained and worked harder for my last fight than I did, but there is no sense in crying over spilled milk. I am ready to step into those uncomfortable spots and work hard again.”
The Fulton-Nunez matchup adds further excitement to an already star-studded card. The event will showcase Tank Davis, ranked No. 2 by The Ring in the lightweight division, defending his WBA title against Frank Martin, ranked No. 5 by The Ring.
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