Undefeated Naoya Inoue is back in the ring on Tuesday, December 26, when he faces Marlon Tapales at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Japan’s unified WBC and WBO junior featherweight champion and Filipino unified WBA and IBF champion battle it out for the undisputed 122-pound title.
Ahead of the event, Top Rank hit the stream with the video going back to October 2020, when Inoue made his first ring appearance in Las Vegas and fought for the second time in the U.S.
Inoue put his WBA and IBF titles on the line against Australia’s Jason Moloney, who was making his second attempt to become champion. The scheduled for 12 rounds world championship bout ended in favor of “The Monster”, who knocked his opponent out with a big right hand in the seventh round.
In his previous outing in July, 30-year-old former undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KOS) of Zama, Kanagawa dethroned American Stephen Fulton by knockout in the eighth round and claimed his WBC and WBO 122-pound belts. 31-year-old southpaw Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) of Tubod, Philippines claimed the IBF and WBA belts by split decision against Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in April.
Inoue vs Tapales airs live on ESPN+ in the United States, Sky Sports in the UK and Kayo in Australia.
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