The World Boxing Organization said on Dec. 22 it recognized undisputed world bantamweight champion Naoya ‘’Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym as its ‘super’ champion following his knockout victory over then WBO bantamweight ruler Paul Butler of Britain in the title unification fight on Dec. 13 in Tokyo.

With the decision, Inoue now has priority for a title shot if he moves up to super bantamweight to challenge Stephen Fulton of the United States for the latter’s title.

According to the relevant WBO rules, a super champion qualifies for eligibility to be considered for designation as the mandatory challenger in (a) higher or lower division upon the boxer’s request.

The 29-year-old Inoue, who now holds the titles of all the four major sanctioning bodies at bantamweight declared after beating Butler, he will move up to super bantamweight to unify the 55.34kg (122 lbs) division just like he did in bantamweight, whose weight limit is 53.52 kg or 118 lbs.

But since the 28-year-old Fulton, who also holds the World Boxing Council’s super bantamweight title as well, is reported to face Fulton’s compatriot Brandon Figueroa, who is the WBC’s top-ranked featherweight, to vie for the interim champion of the organization’s featherweight division, the immediate above the super bantamweight class. Some reports said the Fulton-Figueroa fight was already approved.