Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) put on another dominant performance to once again become the undisputed world champion.
The Japanese knockout artist faced his fellow unified champion Marlon Tapales (37-4, 19 KOs), knocking him out at minute 1:02 of the tenth round. Going into the fight, Inoue held the WBC and WBO super bantamweight belts, while Tapales held the WBA and IBF titles.
The fight headlined a night of fights at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Fittingly, it took place on Boxing Day. Viewers in the United States were able to watch the action live on ESPN+. Sky Sports were the UK broadcasters.
Naoya Inoue dominates Marlon Tapales
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Inoue is once again indisputable
Both fighters remained within an arm’s length of each other throughout the first round. He also didn’t do anything particularly risky. The two opened up slightly in the second, but neither achieved anything to worry the other. Inoue began showing off in the third round to make Tapales make a mistake, but the Filipino fighter didn’t take the bait.
Tapales He fell for the first time at the end of the fourth round. A three-punch combination from Inoue worked, starting with a left hook, then a straight right and finishing with another left hook.
Although “Maranding Nightmare” tried valiantly, his shots had no impact on Inoue. Every time the “Monster” landed, he seemingly affected his opponent, sending Tapales backwards and sometimes even flailing against the ropes.
The end for the Filipino fighter came in the tenth round. A right hand from Inoue that landed on the glove sent Tapales back to the ropes. “Monster” followed with a second right hand, a straight punch up the middle. Tapales fell to the canvas for the second time and missed the count, giving Inoue the victory by knockout.
Post Fight Quotes
“I think super bantamweight is my weight division for now,” Inoue said through an interpreter. “So in 2024, I would like to show you myself as a super bantamweight in even stronger shape.”
Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales Preliminary Card Results
In an incredible fight, Seiya Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Kazuki Anaguchi in a 10-round bantamweight bout. The scores were 95-91 and 94-92 (x2). Anaguchi was outworking his opponent, but Tsutsumi won the fight by scoring multiple knockdowns. Tsutsumi knocked Anaguchi down in rounds four, seven, nine, and ten. With the victory, he is now the Japanese bantamweight champion.
Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18 KOs) defeated Sebastián Maldonado (18-7, 13 KOs) in an eight-round super lightweight fight. The stoppage time was 1:07 of the fifth. Maldonado fell midway through the first round. Referee John Hachisuka intervened during the fifth round to stop the fight after a barrage of punches from Hiraoka.
The opening of the international broadcast was an eight-round super bantamweight clash between Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs) and Mario Maldonado (21-7, 9 KOs). A left to the body dropped Maldonado in the second round, and he did not beat the count. The stoppage time was 2:23 of the second. Some may recognize Takei from his kickboxing days.
Prior to the broadcast, Kanamu Sakama (9-0, 8 KOs) defeated John Gabulinas (10-3, 7 KOs) in an eighth-round light flyweight bout. Referee Koji Tanaka intervened at 2:35 of the fifth round to give Sakama the technical knockout.
Fuga Uematsu (2-0, 2 KOs) also won by TKO in his four-round featherweight fight against Suguru Ishikawa (3-6-1, 2 KOs). The stoppage occurred in the fourth round.
Rikiya Sato (1-0, 0 KOs) won by unanimous decision, in a four-round super featherweight fight against Keisuke Endo (0-3, 0 KOs). The scores were 39-36 (x2) and 38-37.
