Nonito Donaire makes pick for Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton title fight

If there is anyone who knows the caliber of fighter Japan’s Naoya Inoue is, it is Nonito Donaire.

The Filipino Flash fought The Monster twice, taking him the full 12 rounds the first time around in 2019 before getting knocked out in two rounds in their rematch just last year.

Despite Inoue getting the better of Donaire twice, the Filipino prizefighter nonetheless thinks the 30-year-old Japanese is the slight underdog against Fulton, who will be defending his WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles on Tuesday in Japan.

And the reason Donaire is picking Fulton? His size advantage.

“With Inoue going up in weight and Fulton being the champion, you know, I have to give a slight edge [to] Fulton because Inoue has never fought anybody like Fulton,” Donaire told Boxing Scene. “Fulton is the champion, so I just have to give a slight edge to Fulton. I think Fulton is hungry and he is excited for this fight because [Inoue is] a name that will get him to be noticed in the boxing world like Inoue is, in terms of notoriety and stuff like that.”

Fulton, of course, has been campaigning at 122 pounds for the past few years already, while Inoue has been fighting at bantamweight, where he became that division’s first unified champion in the four-belt era. Aside from being naturally heftier, Fulton at 5-foot-7 is also a good three inches taller than the 5-foot-4 Inoue.

Curiously, Donaire himself knows fully well the challenges of going up in weight after a failed bid at featherweight, where he lost to long-time 126-pounders Nicolas Walters and Carl Frampton.