Naoya Inoue came out on top on Tuesday, December 26, when he faced Marlon Tapales at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The pair of unified junior featherweight champions squared off in the evening’s main event, battling it out for the first in history undisputed 122-pound title.
The scheduled for 12 rounds world championship bout ended prior to the final bell. After dropping his opponent down and securing a knockdown in the fourth round, the Japanese star continued dominating to ultimately send the Filipino southpaw to the canvas for the second and final time in Round 10.
Referee Celestino Ruiz opened another count, but waved the fight off at 1 minute and 2 seconds into the 10th round, as the latter wouldn’t get back to his feet.
With the victory by knockout, in addition to his WBC and WBO junior featherweight belts, Naoya Inoue landed the IBF and WBA straps to become the first undisputed world champion at 122 lbs. The 30-year-old native of Zama, Japan improved to 26-0, 23 KOs and remained undefeated.
Marlon Tapales lost his unified IBF and WBA junior featherweight titles and didn’t succeed in his attempt to earn the undisputed crown. The 31-year-old two-division world champion of Tubod, Philippines dropped to 37-4, 19 KOs, which snapped his four-fight winning streak.
“I am so happy that I got the knockout in such a decisive manner,” Inoue said post-fight. “He never showed me fatigue or damage from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round.”
“It was one of the most intense fights I’ve ever had, probably, but my corner cheered me up and kept me focused throughout the bout.”
Naoya Inoue becomes two-division undisputed champion
Four-division world champion Naoya Inoue earned the undisputed title in the second weight class, after previously collecting all major belts at bantamweight. He became the second male boxer crowned as the undisputed champion of the four-belt era in two different weight divisions.
Inoue joins Terence Crawford, who secured the undisputed titles at super lightweight and welterweight.
Get Inoue vs Tapales full fight card results.
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