Philadelphia’s WBO super-bantamweight king Stephen Fulton has moved to Las Vegas early, ahead of his September 18 unification clash with WBC champion Brandon Figueroa at the Park MGM resort.
Fulton is in relaxed mood as he fine tunes his preparation before the biggest fight of his career and insists he feels pressure-free despite what’s at stake.
“I am trying to get used to everything in Vegas,” said Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs). “I wanted to get away from home, be away everyone and get myself a little uncomfortable to finish up camp.
“I don’t feel any extra pressure going into this fight. I don’t know why people expect me to feel more pressure entering my first defence and this huge unification fight, but I don’t let any of that get to me. I know there are people doubting me and I can’t wait for them to watch what happens on September 18.”
Many are expecting a boxer (Fulton) vs brawler (Figueroa) battle, but the Philadelphian feels his last fight against Angelo Leo, where he won the WBO belt on the cards, illustrates he is capable of either approach.
“I feel like this is a classic boxer-brawler match-up, but I showed in my last fight that I can brawl, too,” said Fulton. “He can’t become a pure boxer now though, it’s too late in the game to teach him that. I am more than prepared for him to come in and try to walk me down but if he has a different game plan, I have the adjustments ready.
“I trained alone for this camp and I feel like this is how it needs to be moving forward as a championship fighter. Due to the Covid situation, I just tried to stay away from everybody. I was locked down like this when training for the Angelo Leo fight, too. I like it better to be in the gym by myself or with less people. I like it better because I get to focus more on myself. I have the ring to myself; I have the bags to myself. You don’t have to worry about taking turns or waiting for anything when you are the main priority. You get your job done faster, easier, and more efficiently.
“I worked harder. I sparred more, I focused more on my endurance. The world will see September 18 on Showtime.”
Main image: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.