MARLON Tapales finally gets his wish to have a shot against ‘The Monster.’
The undisputed junior featherweight title will be on the line as Tapales battles unbeaten Japanese Naoya Inoue on Dec. 26 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
See Ancajas earns shot at Inoue and his WBA bantamweight title
The 12-round match where all title belts – WBC, WBO, IBF, and WBA – will be on the line, is going to be streamed live and exclusively in the US on ESPN+ in a special early morning presentation.
Top Rank Promotions made the announcement on Wednesday.
“The sensational Naoya Inoue astounds with every performance. We are witnessing an all-time great fighter in the prime of his career,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.
“He (Inoue) has a very difficult task at hand on Dec. 26 against a tough, powerful Filipino champion in Marlon Tapales. But I am confident ‘The Monster’ will pass the test with flying colors.
Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) currently owns the WBA and IBF crowns following his stunning split decision against Murodjon Akhmadaliev last April.
Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) meanwhile, is the reigning WBC and WBO champion, and was the first undisputed title holder at bantamweight following his victories over Emmanuel Rodriguez, Nonito Donaire Jr. (twice) and Paul Butler before moving up at super-bantamweight early this year.
He scored an eighth round TKO against Stephen Fulton last July to win his first two world championships at junior featherweight.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
