Naoya Inoue had to work harder than usual but the result was familiar.
Boxing Junkie’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter destroyed fellow champion Marlon Tapales before finally stopping him in the 10th round to become the undisputed 122-pound champion on Tuesday in Tokyo.
The Japanese star is only the second fighter to hold all four titles in a second division in the four-belt era, joining Terence Crawford.
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’m very happy to have gotten the knockout in such a decisive way,” Naoya said in the ring immediately after the fight.
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) controlled the fight from start to finish, but took more hits than usual and had difficulty taking down the tough Tapales (37-4, 19 KOs).
The Filipino southpaw went down under a series of hard blows to the head and body in the fourth round, which seemed to be the beginning of the end. However, he survived that adversity to do his best work in Rounds 7 and 8.
Tapales found a way to launch counterattacks more consistently than he did earlier in the fight and took everything Inoue threw at him.
However, his recovery did not last long. Inoue, who remained persistent throughout, appeared to hurt him with a combination of power punches late in the ninth round.
The end came in the next round. Naoya broke Tapales’ guard with a right hand that forced his opponent to his knees and then to all fours. And he couldn’t get up, making him “The Monster’s” seventh consecutive knockout victim.
The official time of the stoppage was 1:02 of Round 10.
“He never showed any fatigue or damage to his face, so I was very surprised when he went down in the 10th round,” Inoue said. “It was probably one of the most intense fights I’ve ever had, but my corner encouraged me and kept me focused throughout the fight.”
Inoue had a fantastic year, stopping two of the top three at 122 pounds. He defeated Stephen Fulton in eight rounds to win two titles in July. And now Tapales.
The next opponent could be his biggest threat in the division, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, whom Tapales defeated by split decision last April. The Uzbek based in the United States has a better combination of speed and power than Fulton or Tapales.
That could present an interesting challenge for Inoue. At the same time, Tuesday reminded us once again that anyone who stands up to him faces a nearly impossible mission.
Share This Event
