MARLON Tapales pulled off a major upset, dethroning previously undefeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev to wrest the WBA-IBF super-bantamweight title on Saturday at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas (Sunday, Manila time) .
Tapales, 30, won the 12-round fight via split decision on scores of 115-113 (Sergio Caiz), 115-113 (Jose Roberto Torres), and 118-110 (Javier Alvarez).
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Fighting out of Sanman Boxing of promoter JC Mananquil, the Filipino was a 5-1 underdog entering the bout.
Tapales was in tears shortly after being announced the winner as MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons gave him a tight embrace along with trainers Elmer Fontanilla and Ting Arriosa as they celebrated in the middle of the ring.

The southpaw from Lanao Del Norte dictated the tempo of the fight early on against Akhmadaliev, who was seeking to defend his unified crown for the fourth time.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Uzbekistan didn’t get untrack until the later rounds, by which time Tapales appeared to have the bout under control at least on two of the judges’ scorecards.
“It is really big to me because this is for my career and my family,” Tapales told DAZN Boxing shortly after the victory witnessed by a small Filipino contingent that included Brendan Gibbons, former world champion Jerwin Ancajas and trainer Joven Jimenez, and Sanman fighters led by Mike Plania.
“I worked really hard for this fight.”
Tapales raised his record to 37-3, with 19 KOs and became a world champion for the second time in seven years after previously reigning as WBO bantamweight title holder.
Sanman Boxing now has two world champions in its stable including WBO mini-flyweight king Melvin Jerusalem.
The loss was the first in the pro career of Akhmadaliev, who underwent surgery on his left hand last June after his fight against Ronny Rios. His record fell to 11-1 (8KOs).
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