"I feel like I will be a superstar when I turn pro. I look to capture a bunch of belts. As for boxing and my upcoming fights and everything, I don't have anything on the table right now, but I'm still preparing like I have a fight on the horizon. I'm in the gym every day. But you can expect a lot from me. You will see; I'm gonna make it real big," stated amateur star Stephen "Scooter" Fulton, who talked about his future plans to turn pro and much more. Check it out!
PC: Where did the nickname "Scooter" come from?
SF: (Laughing) My dad when I was young. He just started calling me that, I guess, and it just stuck with me.
PC: Man, from what I have heard about you, fight fans can really start taking notice of you. What can we expect when you hit the scene?
SF: You can expect a lot from me. I feel like I will be a superstar when I turn pro. I look to capture a bunch of belts. As for boxing and my upcoming fights and everything, I don't have anything on the table right now, but I'm still preparing like I have a fight on the horizon. I'm in the gym every day. But you can expect a lot from me. You will see; I'm gonna make it real big.
PC: Give us some of your amateur accomplishments up until this point and are you turning pro this year or staying in the amateur ranks?
SF: I'm still an amateur as of right now, but I might be looking to turn pro soon. And my amateur background, I won Ringside Silver Gloves, junior Golden Gloves, Golden Gloves, and I was a finalist in the Olympic Trials last chance qualifier and Bronze medal at the Olympic Trials. I went to Russia for the US Team and won a Bronze Medal and ranked #1 in the country.
PC: What would make you decide to stay an amateur or turn pro? What will that decision be based on and are you chasing Olympic dreams still or are you past that?
SF: I think I'm kind of past that because we took the headgear off and another 3 years without headgear fighting against different countries and top dudes is a lot of damage caused to you before you even turn pro. That's a lot of damage to the brain. And in the pros, you kind of get to pick fights, but we are not picking fights in the amateurs. Whoever they put in front of you is who you are fighting and that's guys that are ranked #1 from Cuba, Argentina, Algeria and China. These are all #1 dudes, but as a pro, you figure you would be fighting one of them, but for a belt.
PC: Give me some of your boxing influences! Who do you enjoy watching?
SF: A little bit of everybody (laughing). Of course Floyd. Everybody likes to watch Floyd. Wether you hate him or love him, you're still gonna watch him. I like Danny Garcia, Rigondeaux, Lamont Peterson, Adrien of course. I wanna see what his next move gonna be. A lot of European fighters are coming over and trying to take over too. I wanna see what Lomachenko gonna do in his next fight. I like watching him. I like watching all of 'em.
PC: What style are you bringing to the table?
SF: You can expect a little bit of everything. I'm kind of a counter-puncher, but at the same time, I got a little bit of dog in me. I don't take no crap. I got that dog in me. I can rumble and I can box and be slick with it. The sport is called boxing. You are supposed to box. A lot of people think you're supposed to get in there and start brawling, but that's not what it's about. You wanna do that, go to the UFC or something, but this is boxing. I'm a boxer first, but at the same time, if I need to brawl, I can get into it.
PC: What is your stance?
SF: I'm orthodox, but I can do both. I can box southpaw real good.
PC: What gym are you training out of and who is your trainer?
SF: My trainer is Hamza Muhammad. He also trains Eric "Outlaw" Hunter and another amateur, Joshua Jones. He from Philly too. And I train at James Shuler's Memorial Gym in West Philadelphia.
PC: You get to see a lot of good boxing in there my man.
SF: Oh yeah! Karl Dargan and Brother Naazim be in there, and Steve Cunningham and Khalib Whitmore and Yusaf Mack; a lot of fighters come out of that gym.
PC: Do you spar pros or you're not there yet?
SF: Oh no, I sparred Karl Dargan... "Dynamite." I helped him get ready for one of his fights; me and Josh. I haven't sparred Eric Hunter yet, but I have sparred a few pros. I actually just sparred one yesterday, but I forgot his name though.
PC: Are you going hard in the gym right now or just maintaining?
SF: I'm just staying active because you never know when I'm gonna get the call saying I'm gonna be turning pro or an amateur fight comes up. I don't do show fights as a a amateur; only nationals or internationals.
PC: I appreciate your times and I'm definitely keeping eyes on you because I hear great things. Good luck to you. Is there anything else you want to add?
SF: Thanks a lot for noticing me.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]