By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino champion Marlon Tapales just got his wish.
After challenging Naoya Inoue following his dominant showing against Stephen Fulton in Japan last July 25, 2023, Tapales quickly got what he wanted after the “Monster” agreed to fight the Filipino champion this year.
Inoue’s win just made him the new WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion of the world after dethroning Fulton in a classic brutal beat down inside eight rounds.
Aside from clinching two more new belts, Inoue became a four-division world champion and continued his undefeated professional boxing streak to 25 straight victories including 22 devastating knockouts.
With all the recent accomplishments by Inoue in less than a year, Tapales is determined to unify the super bantamweight division and surprise the boxing world with a win.
Four months ago, Tapales did the unthinkable after stunning Murudjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan via a split decision to snatch the WBA-IBF super bantamweight titles.
It was in the 10th round that the Filipino started to pull away in the scorecards after hitting the Uzbekistani champion at will with his quick jabs to the head and the midsection.
Despite the volume of punches he threw after the 10th round, Tapales continued to ramp up the intensity in the last two rounds. Although Akhmadaliev was able to hit him with a couple of left straights, the Filipino still held his ground and continued his daunting pressure to go home as the new super bantamweight king.
Aside from dethroning the Uzbekistani slugger, Tapales also made history after becoming the first fighter to taint his undefeated record.
With the win, Tapales improved his professional record to 37 wins, 19 knockouts, and three defeats while Akhmadaliev fell to 11 wins and one loss.
ESPN already reported that the highly-anticipated blockbuster fight between Tapales and Inoue is already eyed this November.
Can Tapales weather the storm and become the first-ever boxer to stop the surge of the Japanese Monster?
