Naoya Inoue KOs Marlon Tapales in 10, wins undisputed 122-pound championship

Naoya Inoue dug deep to defeat the tough and cagey Marlon Tapales by 10th-round knockout, winning the undisputed 122-pound championship on Tuesday at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), who also won the vacant Ring Magazine junior featherweight title, did not have an easy time with Tapales, who entered the showdown as The Ring’s No. 2 junior featherweight.

Tapales (37-4, 19 KOs) defeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev by split decision for the IBF and WBA belts in April and the veteran southpaw from the Philippines showed that the victory was no fluke by holding off Inoue and having moments during the intermediate rounds.

Inoue earned the number one spot in The Ring’s junior featherweight rankings by dethroning then-undefeated WBC/WBO champion Stephen Fulton in July and virtually had his way with the American en route to an eighth-round TKO. . Tapales proved to be a more difficult task as he emerged from a tight guard and caught much of Inoue’s explosive offense on his gloves, forearms and shoulders.

Tapales limited his offense in the early rounds to minimize Inoue’s exchanges and counterpunching opportunities, tactics that clearly frustrated the Japanese superstar. However, Tapales stepped on the gas a bit in the fourth round and attempted to trade body shots with Inoue. The infighting lasted until the final 30 seconds of the round when Inoue broke through with an uppercut that rocked Tapales, who backed up to the ropes where the hometown hero dropped him with a cross-hook combination just before the bell rang.

Tapales beat the count and covered for the first minute of the fifth round, but then responded with gusto, landing uppercuts and uppercut combinations to Inoue’s head and body. Inoue became enraged in the final minute, but the tone was set for the second half of the fight, which remained competitive although Inoue generally landed the hardest and most effective blows, usually right hands.

Tapales arguably won the seventh round with a busy, well-timed jab off his back foot so he could stay out of range, but while he was able to back up Inoue at points and slow the pace of the fight, he still got pinned. by a right cross from Inoue in rounds 8 and 9.

Those shots took their toll on the veteran and just under a minute into the tenth round, a big right hand followed by another straight right took Tapales to the ropes and to the canvas on his hands and knees. Tapales remained down for referee Celestino Ruiz’s count of 10.

Naoya Inoue becomes undisputed two-division champion with a tenth-round knockout over Marlon Tapales.pic.twitter.com/eRdz1JDLGy

— 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓈 (@DiariosJournals) December 26, 2023

“I feel very relieved right now,” Inoue said after the fight. “I had to beat an opponent as tough and strong as Marlon Tapales. He never showed any fatigue or damage on his face, so I was surprised when I knocked him down in the tenth.”

With the victory, Inoue, who has won major titles in four weight classes, became undisputed champion in two divisions. The 30-year-old boxer and puncher earned undisputed bantamweight champion status with an 11th-round knockout of Paul Butler last December.

With only two fights left in 2023, Inoue has become the king of a new division, as well as a strong candidate for Fighter of the Year. Terence Crawford, the other undisputed two-division champion among active male fighters, is the other top candidate for that honor thanks to his impressive knockout of Errol Spence in July. The two generational talents are currently the highest-rated fighters in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings (Crawford is No. 1, Inoue is No. 2).

Let the debates begin about who deserves Fighter of the Year and P4P’s #1 spot.

And while hardcore boxing fans and media argue over rankings and awards, fans who simply enjoy watching Inoue fight will be wondering who will be next and in what weight class. Some believe Inoue will invade the featherweight division next year, but The Monster says he will stay at 122, at least for his next fight, which he says will be in May.

“Super bantamweight is my division for now,” said Inoue, whose next fight could be against WBA mandatory Akhmadaliev, The Ring’s No. 4 junior featherweight, who was ringside, or WBC mandatory Luis Nery, The Ring’s number 6 contender.

In the co-main event of the Ohashi Promotions event (in association with Teiken and Top Rank), undefeated Seiya Tsutsumi defended his national bantamweight title with a close and entertaining 10-round decision over previously undefeated southpaw Kazuki Araguchi.

Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7 KOs) won with scores of 95-91 and 94-92 (twice) thanks to four knockdowns scored in rounds 4, 7, 9 and 10. Despite the knockdowns, it was a very hot match. contested fight with Anaguchi (6-1, 2 KOs) who often beat Tsutsumi with superior boxing, technique and footwork. Anaguchi landed clean left hands throughout the fast-paced fight, but chose to hold his own against Tsutsumi, who despite fighting with a heavy cut over his left eye, gradually wore down the sharper boxer with his forward aggression and high volume of punches.

By the end of the fight, Anaguchi’s legs were gone. The 23-year-old Osaka native could barely stand on his own immediately after the fight and needed help from his corner to get out of the ring. Hopefully, Anaguchi was simply exhausted and didn’t need serious medical attention.

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