"I'm a crowd-pleaser. Whatever the crowd wants and whatever my team wants and whatever my coach tells me to do, that's what I'm gonna do regardless. But I will put on a show for everyone
It's good to be in Philly, I love Philly, but now I see that it's something bigger for me out there. I'm gonna keep growing and moving forward," stated Philly boxer Stephen "Scooter" Fulton, who talked about his recent signing with Al Haymon, his upcoming pro debut, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on signing with Al Haymon. How do you feel, man?
SF: I feel good, man. It all worked out for me.
PC: Was this a big process or did it come together rather quickly?
SF: I can't really explain how things went down. It's a blessing to be on the team; the Al Haymon team. But things are happening for me quickly this year. It was a process, but not a major process.
PC: When we were texting back and forth not too long ago, you were telling me how you just wanted to fight. Al is known for keeping his guys busy. Are you hearing a date for your pro debut yet?
SF: I'm hearing October 4th in Connecticut at Foxwoods.
PC: You told me before that you felt you had more of a pro style. Do you think that's why you were sorted out by Al so early?
SF: Yeah, I think so, but I guess they see potential in me, and also another fighter, Julian Williams, kind of looked out for me too. Him and his trainer, "Breadman." And my good friend Todd Harlid looked out for me too.
PC: So what's going on with you? You in the gym working or you gonna wait a little closer to October, if that is in fact the date?
SF: I'm always working. I'm always in the gym getting work in and if you go to my Instagram or Twitter, you could check out some of my videos. My handle is @coolboysteph. I'm always working, so that's never an issue.
PC: And you are trained by Hamza, right?
SF: Hamza Muhammad, and it's always gonna be Hamza Muhammad. I've been with him since day one. He is my first trainer and only trainer. I never switched trainers. It's all about loyalty in the game. We picking our work and progress up.
PC: What is the work like out there in Philly with Hamza?
SF: I'm used to all the work with Hamza because he was my first trainer. We done been through ups and downs together, but everything with him is normal to me. We just about to step it up
PC: How old are you now?
SF: I just turned 20 on July 17th.
PC: And if you're going in October, for people who wanna see you and get behind you, what can they expect from Stephen Fulton?
SF: I'm a crowd-pleaser. Whatever the crowd wants and whatever my team wants and whatever my coach tells me to do, that's what I'm gonna do regardless. But I will put on a show for everyone.
PC: What weight class will you be debuting at?
SF: I will be fighting at 122.
PC: Since announcing the Haymon signing, what has the reception been like for you?
SF: It's big! I made a little Instagram post, me and my trainer made it at the same time, and I got a lot of people giving me shout outs on Instagram. Next thing you know, people out in DC heard about it and then it spread real fast. I'm getting a lot of love and new followers supporting me.
PC: People always wanna see the next big thing in boxing for sure.
SF: Yeah man, I understand that and I'm gonna give it to them. I'm gonna give them what they want.
PC: We did a "Prospect Watch" feature on you awhile back and you were undecided if you wanted to stay an amateur or go pro. During the time in between, were you shopping promoters and managers or just taking it day by day and letting the chips fall?
SF: I kind of was just staying a lil' low and just kept working and kept working and whatever came first, like if a tournament would have came first, I probably would have went to the tournament just to stay busy. My whole thing is, the Olympics was good back in the days, but nowadays seems like it's not really good for US fighters in the Olympics. To me, and it's my opinion, but it seems like it means more to other countries than it does to us. Pros is big for us over here and amateur ranks seem to be bigger for other countries now. It's not like it used to be. So whatever came first, I was going for and luckily this came first.
PC: What type of experience did you gain fighting in the World Series of Boxing?
SF: I gained a lot of experience. That changed me and it took my fighting style to a whole other level. Before, if I was to fight in Philly or against other people in the USA, I would always make my fights look easy. But you could see a major difference if you watched video of me before I fought in WSB to now. No one was touching me before (laughing). It changed my pivoting, my footwork, and my eyes was better. Fighting there just made everything better. And then you get to travel and be on the road 24/7 just working out. When you experience those things, your personality starts to change because you experience other things. You really realize that you don't want to just stay in Philly. You want to get out the hood and explore different things. It's good to be in Philly, I love Philly, but now I see that it's something bigger for me out there. I'm gonna keep growing and moving forward.
PC: Congrats again on the signing. Keep me posted on how everything is going with you and best of luck as a pro. Is there anything else you want to add?
SF: I wanna give another thanks to Julian Williams and "Breadman" and another shout out to Eric Hunter for signing with Golden Boy. He's on my team. And shout out to my trainer, Hamza Muhammad, and you can find him on Instagram @untouchableboxing and on Twitter @WeRUntouchable. He gets a lot of hard work out of me, so I have to give shout outs to him. And in the next couple of years, I can see me, Stephen "Cool Boy Steph" Fulton Jr., Julian "J Rock" Williams, Jesse "Hard Work" Hart and Eric "Outlaw" Hunter as world champions in a few years.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]