Tapales gears up vs Inoue


At a glance

  • Marlon Tapales is gearing up for the biggest fight of his career when he facesJapanesechampionNaoya Inoue for a super bantamweight megabout next Tuesday, Dec. 26, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.


Marlon Tapales is gearing up for the biggest fight of his career when he faces Japanese champion Naoya Inoue for a super bantamweight megabout next Tuesday, Dec. 26, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

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Marlon Tapales

Tapales said he constantly reminds himself of Inoue's caliber which pushes him harder with his preparation going into his much anticipated battle that will unify the former's WBA and IBF belts with the latter's WBC and WBO titles.

“Of course, di naman tayo kumpiyansa, si Inoue yung kalaban natin, pero gagawin ko po ang lahat ng makakaya ko na malampasan ko si Inoue, hindi sya basta-basta pero papakita ko sya na lalaban ako,” Tapales said on Monday, Dec. 18, during his open workout at the Elorde Plus Gym in Parañaque City.

Giving a lighter atmosphere to his intense training session, the Filipino pride was candid on Inoue's advantage against him.

"Siguro mas gwapo siya sa akin ng konti," Tapales said.

The fighter from Tubod, Lanao del Norte, who currently holds a 37-3 win-loss record and is eyeing to put a stain on Inoue’s pristine 25-0 card, could become the country's first-ever undisputed champion with four belts in one weight.

Tapales was triumphant in his last fight against Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in April when he came out with a split decision win for the two super bantamweight belts.