O’Shaquie Foster has seen a different Stephen Fulton since Naoya Inoue knocked him out two years ago.

Foster, 32, contended that Inoue viciously took something out of Fulton, who has won a pair of featherweight fights since being stopped in the eighth round of their July 2023 bout in Tokyo.

Fulton predictably disagreed with Foster’s assessment during a virtual press conference recently. In fact, he believes losing to Inoue during their junior featherweight title unification bout taught invaluable lessons he's since applied during a comeback that has seen him become champion in a second division.

The Philadelphia native decisively defeated Brandon Figueroa in their 12-round rematch Feb. 1. Fulton expects to produce a comparable performance when he challenges Foster for the WBC junior lightweight title Oct. 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I’d say I’ve gained more than I’ve lost in my mental space,” Fulton said. “That has allowed me to fight better, in my eyes. Me going into these fights in a different headspace, it’s the best thing that happened to me. Me taking that loss was the best thing that ever happened.”

"Now, I don’t walk around getting upset about things I can’t control. I know how to control things now. I know what to expect out of people — in the ring, outside the ring, the media, the buildup.

“I know how to handle myself now. It gave me the sense of not really putting my energy into things that I can't control and not caring. I gained a lot mentally and if my mental is perfect, then I fight perfect. So, I gained from it, I wouldn't say I lost anything.”

Fulton, 31, did lose his WBC and WBO 122-pound titles to Inoue, the third-ranked fighter on The Ring's pound-for-pound list. He trailed Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) on all three scorecards before the Japanese icon knocked him to the canvas twice in the eighth round and stopped him.

Two years later, DraftKings’ odds on Foster-Fulton are nearly even, in part because of how well Fulton fought against Figueroa on his way to winning the WBC featherweight title.

Foster (23-3, 12 KOs), of Orange, Texas, hasn’t fought since winning back his WBC belt from Brazil’s Robson Conceicao (23-1, 10 KOs, 1 NC) on Nov. 2. He remains The Ring’s No. 1 fighter in the 130-pound division.

Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) is listed fourth in The Ring’s featherweight Top 10.

Their bout is the co-feature of a PBC pay-per-view event. Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs), of Coachella, California, is set to defend his WBC junior middleweight title against Keith Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs, 1 NC), a former WBA and WBC welterweight champ from Clearwater, Florida, in the main event.