Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. O'Shaquie Foster Keys to Victory: Breaking down tactics of each fighter

All along, O’Shaquie Foster vs. Stephen Fulton Jr. was built as a title bout for Foster’s WBC super featherweight world championship.

Then, Fulton Jr. weighed two pounds over the 130-pound limit during Friday’s weigh-in. That changed Fulton Jr. vs. Foster to now be for the WBC interim world lightweight title Saturday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, and live on pay-per-view. The bout will serve as chief support to the Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz-Lamont Roach Jr. main event.

Fulton Jr. (23-1, 8 KOs) last defeated Brandon Figueroa via unanimous decision to become a WBC featherweight titleholder and two-division world champion in their February rematch. Meanwhile, Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) earned a split-decision win over Robson Conceicao in their November 2024 rematch to snatch the WBC super featherweight title back.

After a tense buildup, will Fulton Jr. take his frustration on the scale out on Foster with a pointed victory? Or will Foster pressure the Philadelphia fighter to a rousing win? DAZN News analyzes the Keys to Victory for both fighters.

Stephen Fulton Jr.’s Keys to Victory

Establish the jab early

Stephen Fulton Jr.’s ability to assert the jab early might allow him to sit comfortably in the driver’s seat as the ring general he is.

Establishing that crisp stick is a major key to controlling the ring real estate and dictating the pace of this bout for the Philadelphia fighter.

Be agile around the ring

Watch ‘Cool Boy Steph’ and it is evident that the two-division world champion moves around the ring rather seamlessly.

This serves a two-pronged effect as it forces opponents to constantly reset their offense and it takes their temperature for their conditioning.

Against O’Shaquie Foster, who is aggressive in bursts, movement could also help Fulton Jr. to get out of harm’s way.

Pot-shot for points

Stephen Fulton Jr. is truly a sweet scientist when it comes to being a marksman and pot-shotting his way to victory, carving open lanes with clean, sharp punches that land flush and sway judges.

His ability to do this, whether with the jab or a looping right hook, is his best bet to being crowned the new WBC interim lightweight world champion.

O’Shaquie Foster’s Keys to Victory

Catch and shoot

O’Shaquie Foster does some of his best work in the pocket, catching and shooting with potent counterpunches in traffic.

If Foster can effectively foreclose on the ring real estate between he and Stephen Fulton Jr., timing and landing counterpunches could be a way for the former to win points and cause significant damage.

Unload the right hook

Foster’s right hook to the temple is a hard shot that the Texas native tends to unload in bursts of successful sequences.

Any chance he has to unload the weapon against Fulton Jr., Foster must take it.

Let hands go more

A knock on Foster is that sometimes he can be a late starter. Falling behind on the scorecards against a smooth operator like Fulton Jr. would be a mistake.

Foster should therefore make a conscious effort of driving up his punch count and pressuring Fulton Jr. with stinging volume.

He does that, and Foster can add the WBC interim lightweight hardware to his super featherweight title toward a joyous New Year.

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