Marlon Tapales has made clear his intentions to fully unify the junior featherweight division in his next fight.
That would mean a fight versus the winner of the Stephen Fulton-Naoya Inoue WBC/WBO title fight, for which he will be ringside to personally issue his challenge.
“I want to send a message to the two fighters who will see me ringside,” Tapales told BoxingScene.com. “Whoever wins has to go through me next.”
Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) attempts to defend his WBC and WBO titles versus Yokohama, Japan’s Inoue (24-0, 21KOs) in a pound-for-pound showdown July 25 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Tapales (37-3, 19KOs) struck gold with his recent win over previously unbeaten WBA/IBF junior featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev on April 8 in San Antonio, Texas. The 31-year-old Filipino southpaw prevailed via split decision to become a two-division titleholder. His immediate callout after the fight was to face the Fulton-Inoue winner.
The sanctioning bodies won’t get in the way of such a fight. Tapales was the IBF mandatory challenger, while the WBA has granted permission for him to pursue a voluntary title fight for his first defense. Specifically, the sanctioning bodies are in line to allow a full unification bout in lieu of forcing an undesirable mandatory title defense.
Tapales has every intention for that fight to come versus the Fulton-Inoue winner. Politics should not be an issue. Sean Gibbons and Shane Shapiro are among the multi-promotional team who guides Tapales and who work with everyone in the sport, including Premier Boxing Champions and TGB Promotions (Fulton) and Top Rank (Inoue).
All that should be left is to wait out the July 25 result. Inoue is viewed by bet365 sportsbook as a -360 favorite (as of July 17) to become a four-division champion, while Fulton is listed at +260 to defend his title.
Most view the matchup in a much closer light, including the leading candidate to next face the winner.
“I see the fight as a true 50/50 fight,” insists Tapales. “I think both fighters have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, I ultimately think Inoue finds a way to win.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox