“I hold all four belts, so in advancing my career, this is a mandatory opponent I have to face. Junto Nakatani has now moved up to No. 1, but at the time of the designation, Picasso was ranked No. 1, so this fight is treated as a mandatory defense. Also, the fact that I’m fighting on the same card as Nakatani ahead of a potential fight in May adds meaning. All of that becomes motivation.”

“Fighting in Saudi Arabia for the first time is motivating for me. I’ll enter the fight with a fresh mindset. It’s a little different from fighting in Japan, and there are unknowns, but I’m also excited. The atmosphere will be different from American events, and I imagine the pre-fight procedures will be different, too.”

“I’ll bring what I can. I hear there are some Japanese supermarkets in Saudi Arabia and that you can get a lot of things. My nutritionist is connected with Japan’s national soccer team and has been to Saudi several times, so I’ve been able to get information about supermarkets and food options. I think we’ll manage.”

“I didn’t feel much in terms of his strength or skill. What I felt was his toughness — his ability to take shots. Throughout 12 rounds, I don’t think there was any technical area where I was inferior. I really did what I wanted to do. The only thing I regret is not being able to finish him. His toughness was incredible.”

“Yes. In Round 6, my body shots definitely hurt him. I thought, ‘How is he not going down?’ I was like, 'Seriously?’”

“Absolutely. If I took those same punches, I’m confident I’d go down (laughs). That’s how cleanly they landed — three of them. Those were the kind of body shots that carve into the opponent. And I landed three clean ones.

"I’m sure they hurt him, but he never froze or stopped moving. He kept his feet under him. That’s why I didn’t go in for the finish. That level of toughness, I’ve never experienced it before.”

“Yes, for Fulton, that was the ideal. It would be great if I could fight like that against everyone. I think that fight went well because the tension was extremely high.”

“Exactly. That’s why I feel that my biggest opponent now is my own career. Looking back at those two knockdowns [vs. Nery and Cardenas] I think in some ways my career itself worked against me. Early in my career, I don’t think I would have rushed my punches like that, or thrown careless shots in the middle of trying to finish someone. In that sense, I now feel that when I was 22 or 23, there were aspects of my boxing that were actually superior.”

“No. My stamina hasn’t declined at all. As you saw in the Akhmadaliev fight, I can move for 12 rounds with no issues. My reactions to punches haven’t faded, either. So the challenge is maintaining that sense of tension. At the same time, emotionally I’m more stable now. Not just in boxing, but through life experiences. I feel things are coming together in a positive way.”

“Yes. Even in training, when I was younger I just worked blindly or relied on physical strength. Now I can give meaning to each session. I can decide, ‘Today I’ll work on this.’ In that sense, aging has brought more fulfillment.”