Derrick “Bozy” Ennis expects Stephen Fulton Jnr to next challenge WBC junior-lightweight champion O’Shaquie Foster.

Fulton revived his career under Ennis with his victory in February over Brandon Figueroa for the WBC featherweight title, following the stoppage defeat inflicted by Naoya Inoue in July 2023 when he conceded the WBC and WBO junior-featherweight titles.

The one-sided nature of that defeat meant that, after being considered Inoue’s greatest test, observers of Fulton’s career questioned whether he could ever truly recover, but following the victory over Figueroa he is targeting a world title at a third weight.

Fulton, 30, regularly trains alongside Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Cuba’s Andy Cruz in Derek Ennis’ Philadelphia-based Next Champ Gym, which perhaps represents the most thriving gym on the East Coast of the US. 

The 31-year-old Foster regained his title following his victory in November in his rematch with Brazil’s Robson Conceicao, and when asked about Fulton, “Bozy” Ennis told BoxingScene: “O’Shaquie Foster, I think that’s next – he’s gonna move up, I think pretty soon. We was in the gym talking, and that’s on the plate now. I think that’s a good fight.

“That win’s really put him right on the map. Bigger and better things are coming his way now.

“That’s the correct thing to say [that he proved he’s got plenty left]. Plus, he’s noticed, his style’s different – I got him catching and moving. You see what he’s doing. He did all the stuff he normally do, [and] he’s right there catching, coming off the catch, then shifting and shift. Each time you see him, he’s gonna be better and better.

“Then, what he do, when he came to my gym, he started doing the stuff that ‘Boots’ did. I told him, ‘You gotta be staying round the gym, man. You winning titles, then you going out and partying.’ He’s been coming in the gym three times a week – even though he had no fights, he’s coming in the gym. 

“He said, ‘Man, I gotta stay doing what they doing.’ You know what I mean? That’s what happened. Everything changed.

“He’s followed the script that we do: Work harder and stay in the gym all the time. Andy [Cruz] is another one – he works hard, too.”

Cruz, incidentally, is on course to fight Hironori Mishiro of Japan in an eliminator for the IBF lightweight title.