Naoya Inoue's May 7 world title bout against American WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton has been postponed after the Japanese fighter hurt his hand sparring, his Ohashi Gym said Wednesday.
Inoue, who turns 30 on April 10, was scheduled to face the 28-year-old Fulton at Yokohama Arena. The parties are aiming to reschedule the fight to July, the gym said.
Both boxers are undefeated as professionals. Inoue is 24-0, winning 21 by knockout, while Fulton is 21-0 with eight KOs.
Inoue, nicknamed "Monster," has moved up a division after sweeping the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF bantamweight titles in December with an 11th-round knockout of Britain's then-WBO champion Paul Butler, becoming the first Japanese undisputed champion since the four-belt era began in 2004.
He is bidding to become the second Japanese man to win world titles in four weight classes, replicating Kazuto Ioka's feat in June 2019.