O’Shaquie Foster has landed a high-profile assignment for the first defense of his second title reign.
BoxingScene has confirmed that Foster will next risk his WBC junior lightweight belt against two-division titlist Stephen Fulton. Once officially signed, the bout is tentatively slated to land on the yet-to-be-announced August 16 PBC on Prime Video Pay-Per-View event topped by the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach Jnr rematch in Las Vegas.
The Ring was the first to report that both sides agreed to a deal. Fulton took it a step further in a social media post on Tuesday.
“Fight signed,” the reigning WBC featherweight titlist stated, without revealing any other deals.
The fight has been in the works for several weeks. Three officials with intimate knowledge of talks stated that only a few lingering details remain before making it one-hundred percent official. However, all involved parties are not only confident of matters reaching that status but expect a formal announcement within the next week or so.
TGB Promotions has a venue hold at T-Mobile Arena on the date, though it’s not yet confirmed as the final destination for the event as this story goes to publication.
Houston’s Foster, 23-3 (12 KOs), will fight for the first time since he regained his WBC 130lbs title from Robson Conceicao last November 2 in Verona, New York. Their rematch saw the 28-year-old Foster prevail by split decision, less than five months after he lost the belt to Conceicao in that exact fashion.
His upcoming showdown versus Fulton, 23-1 (8 KOs), marks a return to the PBC platform where he claimed his first belt.
Foster soundly outpointed then-unbeaten Rey Vargas to win the WBC junior lightweight belt in their February 2023 meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Two successful defenses followed before the highly questionable defeat to Conceicao last July 6 in Newark, New Jersey.
Vargas’ failed bid to become a three-division titlist did not cost him the WBC featherweight belt. An injury, however, ended his reign as he was downgraded to “Champion in Recess.”
The full version of the belt was given to Brandon Figueroa, who Fulton effortlessly outpointed to win the title in their February 1 rematch.
Philadelphia’s Fulton became a two-division titlist with arguably his most impressive to date, a clear unanimous decision on a PBC on PPV show from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It marked Fulton’s second straight win, both which came at featherweight after a July 2023 knockout loss to Naoya Inoue to end his unified WBC/WBO junior featherweight title reign in Tokyo, Japan.
The win was also a repeat feat for Fulton, and in more dominant fashion than their first meeting. A November 2021 WBC/WBO unification bout between unbeaten 122lbs titlists saw Fulton prevail via majority decision in their Fight of the Year contender.
Fulton’s bid to become a three-division titlist will also mark his third straight fight in Las Vegas and fourth overall. Foster will fight in Vegas for the first time in his 13-year-career.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on and .