Marlon Tapales has insisted to anyone who will listen that he is not done with his upset tour.
The reigning WBA/IBF junior featherweight titlist has arrived in Tokyo for the biggest challenge of his fifteen-year pro career. Looming ahead for the 31-year-old Filipino southpaw is an undisputed championship clash versus four-division and current WBC/WBO 122-pound champ Naoya Inoue, widely regarded among the sport’s very best pound-for-pound fighters.
“I am motivated from the heart and with the joy to emerge victorious in a resounding way,” Tapales told BoxingScene.com. “I am ready to beat Naoya Inoue, I am going to knock him out.”
Tapales (37-3, 19KOs) entered the ring as a +330 underdog according to bet365 the night he dethroned unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev on April 8 in San Antonio. The same sportsbook views the full unification bout as a far more lopsided affair, as Tapales is currently listed at +850 to shock the world. Yokohama’s Inoue (25-0, 22KOs) is a heavy -1600 favorite to win his second undisputed championship in just over a year.
Still, Tapales is brimming with confidence that he will extend his current four-fight win streak. Overall, he is currently 4-0 in Japan. The last two ended inside the distance, including an eleventh-round knockout of Shohei Oomi nearly seven years ago in Osaka.
Inoue is naturally a cut above the rest but his fellow unified titlist is certain that all four belts will head back to the Philippines.
“I consider Naoya to be a great, skilled and intelligent boxer,” noted Tapales. “But I know all the hard work I put in during training camp in Las Vegas and the Philippines will have me ready for this moment.
“I am well aware that I am not the favorite according to the oddsmakers. But, I don’t care about that, the result will be different than what they think.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox