NOW in the final stretch of training camp, World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight king Marlon Tapales is geared up and ready to go for his much-anticipated world title unification bout with World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue on Dec. 26, 2023 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
“Marlon is doing well. He’s well-conditioned. He’s adjusted and very focused for this fight,” Sanman Promotions chief executive officer JC Manangquil told VoxPop Cebu.
After starting training for Inoue in the United States, the 32-year-old Tapales is back in the Philippines to finish off his training camp before flying to Japan for the fight.
Tapales is currently in Baguio City and has been sparring with the likes of Mike Plania, Herlan Gomez and Pete Apolinar, a former sparring partner of Inoue.
“It’s closer to Japan and won’t be adjusting to the time zone. It’s also high-altitude,” said Manangquil.
Tapales captured the IBF and WBA titles after dethroning previously unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev, one of the best super bantamweights in the world. He walked away with a split decision over Akhmadaliev on April 8 in the US.
Meanwhile, Inoue, considered as a top pound-for-pound fighter, became a four-division world champion after winning the WBO and WBC straps last July 25 in Japan. He dethroned Stephen Fulton via an eighth-round stoppage.
The Tapales vs. Inoue fight is one of the biggest fights this year. The winner of the fight becomes the undisputed world champion of the super bantamweight division.
Tapales is 37-3 with 19 knockouts, while 30-year-old Inoue is 25-0 with 22 knockouts.
Also seeing action in the same card is Cebuano John Paul Gabunilas.
Gabunilas (10-2, 7 KOs) is up against undefeated Japanese Kanamu Sakama (8-0, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
