Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales Set For December 26 in Tokyo

Fresh off the destruction of Stephen Fulton Jr (21-1, 8 KOs), unified super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) will face the other unified champion Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) for the right to be called the undisputed king of the division. The fight will take place a day after Christmas at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue is having a Hall of Fame career, and if he can win in December, that would make him undisputed in two different weight classes during back-to-back years. That is really impressive during this day and age, where fighters often take the path of least resistance. Tapales can squash those plans with a victory, but he needs to be near perfect if he wants to secure a win. This is an intriguing matchup that will have everyone’s attention after opening their Christmas gifts the day prior.

TOKYO (Oct. 24, 2023) – Japan’s pound-for-pound king is gearing up to extend his undisputed legacy to a second weight class.
 
WBC/WBO world champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue and WBA/IBF king Marlon Tapaleswill collide in an undisputed junior featherweight showdown on Tuesday, December 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Inoue, already a four-division world champion, seeks to become the second fighter to earn four-belt undisputed status in a second division.
 
Inoue-Tapales and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ in a special early-morning presentation.
 
“The sensational Naoya Inoue astounds with every performance. We are witnessing an all-time great fighter in the prime of his career,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He has a very difficult task at hand on December 26 against a tough, powerful Filipino champion in Marlon Tapales, but I am confident ‘The Monster’ will pass this test with flying colors.”

Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) is 20-0 with 18 knockouts in world title fights since defeating Adrian Hernandez in 2014 for the WBC light flyweight crown. He then moved up two divisions, knocked out then-WBO junior bantamweight world champion Omar Narvaez, and defended the title on seven occasions. At bantamweight, Inoue became the division’s first undisputed champion in the four-belt era, collecting each title as he defeated Emmanuel Rodriguez, Nonito Donaire twice and Paul Butler over a three-year span. After vanquishing WBC/WBO junior featherweight world champion Stephen Fulton via eighth-round TKO in July, Inoue plans to become the first undisputed four-belt champion at 122 pounds.
 
Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) is a 40-fight veteran who debuted in July 2008. He spent the earlier part of his career fighting in his native Philippines, suffering two early setbacks before a breakout performance against then-unbeaten Japanese contender Shohei Omori, whom he defeated via second-round TKO in December 2015. Tapales then captured the WBO bantamweight world title with an 11th-round TKO against Panya Uthok. After beating Omori in their 2018 rematch, he moved up to junior featherweight. He is 4-0 with 3 KOs since losing to Ryosuke Iwasa in December 2019. Tapales returns following his biggest win to date, April’s upset split decision against Murodjon Akhmadaliev to capture the WBA and IBF titles.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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