DAZN's No. 9-ranked men's pound-for-pound fighter made his 2022 debut on Saturday as WBC, and WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton Jr. took on former unified super bantamweight champion Daniel Roman.
Fulton showed why he belongs on the list as he outboxed the former champion to win by unanimous decision (120-108, 120-108, 119-109) from the Minneapolis Armory in Minneapolis, Minn. DAZN had it scored 117-111 for Fulton.
What some pundits felt could be a fight of the year candidate turned into a lopsided contest after the third round. Fulton controlled the distance, blasted the jab, and used excellent footwork to frustrate Roman, who would try to force the issue. But when he did, Fulton would move out and keep himself out of danger.
Wanting to get a stoppage, Fulton started sitting on his punches in the later rounds but couldn't put the resilient Roman away.
The win puts Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) into a prime spot to pursue an undisputed title fight with IBF/WBA champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7 KOs) defends his titles against Ronny Rios (33-3, 16 KOs) on June 25, which you can live and exclusively on DAZN .
Here is what happened at Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. Daniel Roman.