Filipino boxer Marlon Tapales will be passing through a monstrous test this coming December 26 in Japan. It is a grand four-belt unification bout against the boxing sensation, the WBC & WBO super bantamweight champion and spotless record-holder (25-0, 22 KOs) Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs), AKA “Maranding Nightmare” is the current IBF & WBA champion. Maranding by the way, is a village in the southern part of the Municipality of Lala in Lanao del Norte province in the Philippines, Tapales’s home province.
Tapales became world champion when he challenged and won against the then incumbent unified champion Murodion Akhmadaliev for the unified WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles. The bout was held at Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas. Tapales shocked the sweet science world as he was the underdog against the undefeated Akhmadaliev. The Filipino won via SD on that 8 April 2023 fight.
The Tapales-Inoue mega-fight is promoted by Hideyuki Ohashi of Ohashi Promotions. Tapales’ manager is JC Manangquil of Sanman Boxing Promotions.
Fighting spirit
Tapales and his team are now in Baguio preparing for the year’s biggest yearend brawl. "I will be the Japanese monster’s biggest nightmare this coming December in his hometown," said Tapales.
The 31-year-old Filipino pugilist is not only aiming for a fat purse but to make history in Philippine boxing as the country’s first-ever four-belt unified champion. It is the first-ever battle between two Asians for such a historic feat.
According to MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons, who is in charge of negotiating on behalf of Team Tapales, "Marlon is known for his never-give-up attitude despite the tall odds. He fights in any given situation, adjusts, and never fears. He will be coming for the monster.”
If Filipino champion Tapales beats Inoue, then it's going to be boxing's biggest upset this year.
Upsets happen
Every underdog boxer, as their fight approaches, is aimed at a high-definition upset. And in this particular case “doing a Morris.” But what is in that “Morris” allusion of mine?
Also in Tokyo on September 9, 1992, Filipino boxer Morris East downed the heavy favorite Akinubo Hiranaka for the WBA World Super Lightweight Championship at Nippon Budokan Hall. Hiranaka is 1984 Los Angeles Olympian and his country’s biggest prospect those days.
In a very intense fight, East unleashed an almost invisible left straight to the chin on the 11th round and the Japanese knelt, rolled, and laid face down on the canvas. That was 31 years ago today.
Boxing is beautiful because it offers a lot of surprises. It is a game that would change everything in just a wink of an eye.
The bearded Hiranaka was diagnosed with an intracranial hemorrhage after the fistival and was forced into retirement. His record was 20-2-0 (18KOs). He also has the highest KO percentage of any Japanese boxer (90%) whereas Inoue has just 88%.
East’s assault on Hiranaka was named the 1992 Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year.
Also, Mike Tyson- Buster Douglas’ first fight, which is considered the biggest upset in sports history, was also held in Tokyo, the same city as the Hiranaka-East and Inoue-Tapales fights.
Youngest Champ
Morris East was the youngest Filipino World Champion ever.
Morris East, who had a 15-2 win-loss record at that time, was born and raised in Olongapo City on August 8, 1973, to an American serviceman father and a Filipina mother. He was just 19 years old then and the youngest Filipino world champion ever and very controversial too.
Would Tapales do a Morris in December in that same Japanese city? The whole nation prays so.
Except for the dyed-in-the-wool fans of a certain Filipino fighter who mostly hate or are skeptical about him for very irrational reasons. This includes boxing pundits from all over judging objectively from all aspects of the sport saying that the Filipino has no chance against the Japanese.
Tapales and his team, led by Coach Ernel Fontanilla, are destined to prove them wrong.
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