Stephen Fulton is one of the elite boxers in the world, one of nine unified champions in the sport. As good as he is, though, he fights in a weight class that makes him all but anonymous in the U.S.
Boxing fans in the U.S. gravitate toward the bigger fighters and 122-pound super bantamweights such as Fulton, the IBF-WBC champion, often get overlooked despite frequently possessing prodigious talent.
They don't overlook super bantamweights in Japan, though, particularly when said fighter is competing in the biggest fight of the year in that country and one of the biggest of the year anywhere.