Naoya Inoue puts Marlon Tapales down before knocking out his rival champion in 10 rounds to become a two-weight undisputed champion; Inoue came in as the unified WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titlist, facing Tapales the IBF and WBA belt-holder; Inoue now wants to defend those titles
Tuesday 26 December 2023 16:14, UK
Naoya Inoue knocked out Marlon Tapales in 10 rounds at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo to win the undisputed super-bantamweight title.
Winning made Inoue the first undisputed super-bantamweight champion of the four-belt era.
It is also a historic achievement as he joins Terence Crawford as one of only two men to become two-weight undisputed four-belt champions.
It was a little over a year ago that Inoue was going undisputed at bantamweight.
In just his first fight at 122lbs in July, he knocked out Stephen Fulton to win the WBC and WBO titles.
He served up another spectacular finish to beat Marlon Tapales, who was the reigning IBF and WBO titlist after a career-best win over Murodjon Akhmadaliev earlier this year.
Inoue dropped Tapales in the fourth round and then delivered another knockdown in the 10th. Tapales could not beat the referee's count.
"I would like to give a big shout-out to Marlon Tapales," Inoue said afterwards. "Such a tough opponent.
"He never showed me fatigue or damage so I was quite surprised when he went down in this round."
Although Inoue won by stoppage yet again, rival champion Tapales gave the Japanese star a genuine contest, coming back into the fight after the home favourite dominated the early rounds.
Quickly Inoue demonstrated his hand speed, as he dug a right hook into Tapales' body. As the Filipino southpaw waited for his opponent to initiate, Inoue caught him out. Up close he worked in a short right cross.
Clumsy for a moment, Tapales over-reached and Inoue punished the mistake with an uppercut.
In the second round, he tipped Tapales off balance with a jab, a hint at how dangerously effective the timing of Inoue's punches could be.
Inoue pressed Tapales back the ropes, swinging a right hook through in a blazing combination of punches.
Regrouping, Tapales heaved his backhand left into Inoue's body.
They opened up in the fourth round. Tapales did tag him with a flush cross, but that just prompted the Japanese fighter to increase his own punch output.
Tapales wouldn't back off from the power punches coming his way. The Filipino aimed his right hook at the body and fired that same shot into the head.
Inoue simply replied with a hurtful combination. His left hook landed hard. He then unloaded a ferocious flurry and with another left hook, dropped Tapales with five seconds left in the round.
The bell saved him then.
Inoue continued his assault in the fifth round, banging in right hands.
Tapales, though, managed to absorb those hits and came back at 'The Monster'.
Tapales set himself up to land great hooks. He was rising to the pressure. But a countering right from Inoue punished a missed left hook and shook up Tapales.
The Filipino stabilised in the mid-rounds, boxing well in the seventh and eighth as he adjusted his defences.
Inoue had to respond to that and he did. He backed up a cross with another right, those hard punches finding their way through.
In the 10th round, Inoue's right blasted into Tapales' arms, shaking loose his guard.
Inoue struck in another massive right. Tapales couldn't handle the power of that shot. He stumbled back before falling to his knees. He would remain on the canvas unable to continue.
"I kept myself very focused throughout the bout," Inoue reflected.
"I'm so happy at the moment because I was victorious against a tough, strong, very spirited opponent like Marlon Tapales.
"Thank you so much for fighting me and I am so happy that I got victory by TKO in such an exciting manner."
Inoue's next outing will be hugely anticipated. In the long run, it looks like he has the potential to be successful even in the next weight class up.
But his immediate future will likely see him remain at 122lbs, where he is now the undisputed king.
"I think super-bantamweight is my weight division for now so in 2024, I would like to show myself at super-bantamweight in even stronger form," he warned.
The WBC will mandate Mexico's Luis Nery as the next challenger for their title.
"The WBC allowed this [Tapales] fight to happen. Nery was next and we did rule that the ultimate undisputed fight would take precedence and Nery accepted it. He has been the mandatory contender for almost a year and a half so he's going to fight the winner," WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
"Nery's a two-time world champion so you cannot get a better mandatory contender than that and that is the aim of the WBC. If you're a mandatory contender, you have to be the best of the division."
Inoue didn't speculate on his next opponent but did suggest he would be fighting in May.
"I think a lot of people know the rumour of a fight coming about in May. But I can't say much about this yet because we're under negotiation," he said.
"But I want to make everybody happy so that I can show you a great fight next year as well."
