Naoya Inoue was awarded the status of bantamweight super champion in the World Boxing Organization's latest rankings, giving him priority for a title shot if he moves up to challenge American Stephen Fulton in the weight division above.
Inoue became the first Japanese boxer to unify all four major titles on Dec. 13 when he beat British former champion Paul Butler in an 11th-round knockout. The WBO ranked Inoue its bantamweight super champion as of Dec. 14.
After the bout, Inoue, nicknamed "Monster," declared his intent to move up to super bantamweight in hopes of unifying a second division.
A WBO rule stipulates that a super champion qualifies for "eligibility to be considered for designation as the mandatory challenger in (a) higher or lower division" upon the boxer's request.
Fulton, 21-0 in his career, is the current super bantamweight champion in both the WBO and World Boxing Council.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan, 11-0 as a pro, holds the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Association belts in the division.
A super bantamweight title would give Inoue championships in four different weight classes, having previously moved through the light flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions.
Kazuto Ioka won the WBO super flyweight title in 2019 to become the only Japanese to have achieved that feat. He defends that belt against American Joshua Franco on Dec. 31 at the Ota City General Gymnasium.