Going through the ropes in front of his home country crowd, Naoya Inoue faces Filipino Marlon Tapales on Tuesday, December 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The pair of unified junior featherweight champions battles it out for the division’s first undisputed title.
Ahead of the highly anticipated clash, Top Rank released a highlight video featuring the Japanese star in his previous outing at the same venue in July. “The Monster” dominated and stopped American Stephen Fulton in the eighth round to become a new unified WBC and WBO 122-pound champion.
In his next fight, undefeated four-division world champion Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) looks to earn the undisputed title in the second weight class. The 30-year-old native of Zama, Japan previously collected all belts at bantamweight.
31-year-old southpaw Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) is a unified IBF and WBA junior featherweight champion. Former two-division titleholder of Tubod, Philippines claimed the straps against Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev by split decision 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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