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MANILA, Philippines – Marlon Tapales saw Naoya Inoue put up a monster-like performance in an eighth-round demolition of Stephen Fulton in Tokyo.
He was impressed, but not awed by the ‘Japanese Monster,’ who wrested the American’s World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight belts on Tuesday, July 25, and would be gunning for the Filipino’s World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) crowns soon.
Tapales and Inoue have verbally agreed to the unification that would likely happen in December, again in Japan.
“I want to fight Inoue. I want to prove (to) myself that I’m a champion,” said Tapales, who was invited by Inoue into the ring at the Ariake Arena.
“Let’s do this,” Inoue, currently the pound-for-pound king, replied.
According to JC Manangquil, head of Sanman Promotions, the Inoue-Tapales bout is 80-90 percent sure, with only the paperwork to be polished by MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions president Sean Gibbons and Hideyuki Ohashi, Inoue’s manager and promoter.
In the post-fight press conference in Japan on Wednesday, Inoue, alongside Ohashi, reiterated his desire to unify the 122-pound titles within the year.
Manangquil said while Tapales rated Inoue “very good” against Fulton, his ward also noticed some lapses that can be exploited to snap the 25-win streak, spiced by 22 knockouts, of the 30-year-old Japanese.
“We’re confident (of pulling off an upset),” Manangquil told Rappler upon his arrival with Tapales in Manila from Tokyo on Wednesday night.
Manangquil said the 31-year-old Tapales, who bested Murodjon Akhmadaliev by split decision on April 8, will begin light training in General Santos City before flying to the United States in August for the Inoue training camp with Ernel Fontanilla.
Tapales (37-3, with 19 knockouts) will try to accomplish what future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire failed to do twice in 2019 and 2022 against Inoue.
Other Filipino victims of Inoue, only the second Japanese four-division world champion after Ioka Kazuto, were Michael Dasmariñas in June 2019, Warlito Parrenas in 2015, Jerson Mancio in 2013, and Crison Omayao in 2012. – Rappler.com
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