Photo/Illutration Naoya Inoue defeats Stephen Fulton with an eighth-round technical knockout to become the WBC and WBO super-bantamweight champion on July 25 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena. (Takuya Isayama)

Even after suffering a hand injury in training that delayed his championship bout for two months, Naoya Inoue showed no ill effects, just as his father knew it would.

Shingo Inoue, also his son’s coach, looked on as “The Monster” destroyed Stephen Fulton to become the WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion on July 25 in Tokyo.

“I didn’t worry about my son at all because I knew he has what it takes,” said Shingo. “He grew stronger during those two and a half months.” 

Indeed, Inoue showed no signs of ring rust as he dominated the bout from the early rounds. 

He delivered a constant stream of stiff left jabs to the body and jaw to keep his opponent off balance and unable to counter or take the offensive.

“Fulton was taller and had a longer reach, so I’ve trained to keep him at the proper distance,” said Inoue.

Inoue initially thought he didn’t have to knock out Fulton to win but could box his way to a decision victory.

However, he changed his mind when he heard one fan impatiently shout: “C’mon, finish him now!”

“It went exactly as I’d trained for,” said Inoue about the moment in the eighth round when he threw a devastating right cross to the jaw after a left jab to the body followed by a crunching left hook as Fulton fell to the canvas.

The match was postponed after Inoue injured his hand during training in March.

Though Inoue was willing to fight in May as scheduled, the president of his gym, Hideyuki Ohashi, immediately decided to delay the bout, judging the injury would not allow Inoue to properly prepare himself.

As it turned out, the postponement gave Inoue a great advantage.

While recovering from the hand injury, Inoue trained his lower body, practiced punching with the other hand and focused on mental training.

“When Naoya was shadowboxing, I could almost see Fulton in front of him,” said Shingo. “He had an increasingly clear image of Fulton in his mind and it looked as if he was actually fighting his opponent at our gym.”

By the time he resumed sparring in May, Inoue was in peak condition.

“He was in a great, stable condition like I’d never seen before,” said Shingo of his son. “I was convinced he would win.”

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