“I made a hell of a statement tonight,” said WB/WBO 122-pound world champion Stephen Fulton after his unanimous decision over Danny Roman. “I prepared for this and I told y’all I was going to make it easy and fight depending on how I wake up, and I woke up feeling good.

“It was very important to control the distance tonight. Like I said before, in the last outing with Brandon Figueroa, I didn’t have the energy because I didn’t make the weight the right way. So shout out to my dietician. Any moment he had, I took it right away from him. I neutralized the threat.

“I started walking him down because I saw that he had been slowing down. I feel like the more I kept boxing, the more I just got a little tired of boxing. Me trying to walk forward to him wasn’t going to happen all the time, but I definitely saw him slowing down. I wanted to stop him but I didn’t get that.

[On his next fight] “You already know what’s next. I want M.J (WBA/IBF champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev). I got to finish this up. But much respect for Danny Roman. Much respect.”

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As for Roman, he stated, “There’s no excuse. I think this fight proves who the best 122-pound fighter in the division is. Fulton did that tonight. He proved it. I wish him the best and I hope he goes and achieves what I couldn’t achieve. Go become undisputed. Like I said, this fight proved who is the best in the division. Fulton was the better man tonight.”