Japan’s WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (L) fights with Philippines’ WBA and IBF super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales (R) during their four-belt world super bantamweight title unification match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on December 26, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Naoya Inoue is an undisputed champion for the second time in his profession.
The Japanese star wore Marlon Tapales down along with his power after which connected on a classic 1-2 for a Tenth-round stoppage on Tuesday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
“The Monster” thus unified the super bantamweight belts, adding Tapales’ International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association crowns to his World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles.
And Inoue is able to tackle all comers within the division, hinting on plans to remain there before moving to try to clean up one other weight class.
“I feel super bantamweight is my weight division for now so in 2024, I would love [to continue competing] in super bantamweight in even stronger form,” Inoue said through an interpreter after the bout.
It was the twenty sixth victory for Inoue in an undefeated card with just three fighters successful in dragging the fight to the space.
And it looked like Tapales, who got here in a large underdog, had the proper game plan to try to steal the bout on points—at the very least within the opening rounds.
Early knockdown
But Inoue scored a knockdown within the fourth round and the complexion of the fight completely modified.
“I would love to present a giant shoutout to Marlon Tapales for fighting me,” Inoue said. “I’m so relieved that [I won] against a robust, tough and spirited opponent like Marlon Tapales.”
Inoue’s victory got here after he unified the bantamweight divisions just last yr after stopping Paul Butler. In his first fight as an excellent bantamweight, he scored an eighth-round stoppage of Stephen Fulton to assert the WBC and WBO crowns.
On Tuesday he accomplished the set by taking Tapales’ belts with a strong and calculated performance.
He connected on a 1-2 that backed Tapales up before attacking the Filipino with one other 1-2 combination that sent his opponent to the ground on the 2:08 mark of the Tenth round.
Inoue, 30, is simply the second fighter in history to develop into undisputed champion in two different weight classes, the opposite being Terence Crawford.
