Boxing enthusiasts should mark December 26 on their calendars as the date for the much-anticipated unification bout between Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales. Tokyo will play host to this showdown, though the exact venue remains undisclosed.
The stakes are sky-high, with the winner set to become the junior featherweight division's first undisputed champion since its reinstatement in 1977.
Inoue, hailing from Yokohama, will be defending his WBC and WBO 122-pound belts. On the other side, Tapales from the Philippines will put his WBA and IBF titles on the line. Both fighters are making their first defenses after securing these titles in separate fights earlier this year.
Tapales, a two-division titlist, added another feather to his cap after defeating the undefeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev in San Antonio, Texas, in April. Despite past hurdles—like being stripped of the WBO bantamweight title in 2017—he's keen to make his mark in Japan again, where he's claimed four wins in his 15-year career.
For Inoue, this fight offers a chance to carve out a historical threepeat for Japan. Last December, he became the first undisputed champion from his nation (and Asia) in the three- or four-belt era after defeating England’s Paul Butler. Then in July, he became Japan’s first multi-weight unified titleholder by overpowering Stephen Fulton.
Image Credit: Sky Sports