Stephen Fulton fought just twice at the featherweight limit before he determined he needed to move up again.

Fulton beat Brandon Figueroa to win the WBC 126-pound crown in his last bout, but he might never defend that title. The Philadelphia native will challenge O’Shaquie Foster for his WBC 130-pound championship October 25 in Las Vegas because making weight for Figueroa took too much out of him.

Fulton had marketable, profitable options at featherweight. The 31-year-old two-division champ was blunt, however, when he explained his decision to instead face Foster during a virtual press conference Wednesday.

“It was the weight,” Fulton said. “I wasn’t about to make the same mistakes I did in the past, so I’m like, ‘I can’t make this no more. This will be my last fight here at this weight class.’”

Fulton regrets that he fought at the junior featherweight maximum of 122 pounds too long. Delaying a jump up to featherweight made financial sense, though, because he eventually faced Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue in a full title unification fight in July 2023.

The former WBC/WBO 122-pound champ won both of his featherweight fights after Inoue stopped him in the eighth round in Tokyo.

His featherweight debut didn’t go as well as planned, though Fulton got up from a fifth-round knockdown and edged Carlos Castro by split decision a year ago in Las Vegas. Fulton returned to T-Mobile Arena on February 1 and defeated Figueroa by unanimous decision in a rematch of their “Fight of the Year” candidate in November 2021.

Fulton, who won his first fight with Figueroa by majority decision, still holds the WBC featherweight belt. Though he indicated Wednesday that he isn’t physically capable of squeezing down to 126 again, Fulton acknowledged that he hasn’t informed the WBC of what he’ll do after he faces Foster.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I’m not really focused on that right now. I’m focused on this fight in front of me and that’s all.”

In addition to Fulton, the WBC has an interim champ, Brooklyn’s Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, and a champion in recess, Mexico’s Rey Vargas, in the featherweight division.

Carrington called out Fulton for facing Foster rather than remaining at featherweight to fight him. Foster, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked junior lightweight, is more established than Carrington, who is listed sixth in The Ring’s featherweight top 10, two spots behind Fulton.

If Fulton doesn’t move back down to compete at featherweight, the WBC could elevate Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) from interim champ. Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought in 18 months and doesn’t have a fight scheduled.

Foster (23-3, 12 KOs), of Orange, Texas, and Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) is the co-feature of a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view show from MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs), of Coachella, California, is set to defend his WBC super welterweight crown against former WBA/WBC welterweight champ Keith Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs, 1 NC) in the main event.