Ra’eese Aleem intended to send a message with his performance in the ring.
The undefeated junior featherweight contender then loudly did exactly what he wants next in his career.
“It’s time for ‘scared boy’ Stephen Fulton Jr. to come out of hiding and sign the contract,” Aleem told reports after outpointing Filipino Mike Plania in ten rounds. “When will I get my shot at the title?”
Aleem (20-0, 12KOs) made a compelling case that he deserves to be next in line after outpointing Plania in their FS1-televised bout Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The junior featherweight battle aired well before the Fox Sports Pay-Per-View portion of the night, though it didn’t stop Aleem, a Muskegon, Michigan native who now fights out of Las Vegas, from delivering a performance that stole the title. spectacle as he scored a second-round knockdown and won 100-89 on all three scorecards.
The fight, which aired on the Andy Ruiz-Luis Ortiz undercard, was originally scheduled to take place June 18 in Houston. Had the show remained intact, it would have left Aleem just two weeks away from Fulton’s victory in the defense of the WBC/WBO junior featherweight title in a dominating performance over former WBA/IBF champion Danny Roman. Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) pitched a virtual shutout (120-108, 120-108, 119-109) to record his second overall title defense.
Fulton won the WBO in a January 2021 show that saw Aleem enjoy his own breakthrough performance in an eleventh-round knockout of Vic Pasillas in their battle of undefeated prospects. Fulton and Aleem were on the same card again last November: Fulton narrowly outpointed Brandon Figueroa in their sensational WBC/WBO unification fight and Aleem earned a ten-round majority decision over Eduardo Baez.
After both occasions, Aleem was adamant about taking on Fulton. That demand has resurfaced after perhaps his most complete performance to date, and while Fulton does not have a confirmed or announced date or opponent for his next fight.
“Let’s get in there so he can give him his first loss,” insisted Aleem. “It would be a closer fight than [Sunday night]but I still hope to dominate and get the victory.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
