One thousand six hundred and sixty-three days he sued Naoya Inoue gather all four bantamweight belts. The undefeated Japanese knockout, considered by many the best pound for pound boxer Today, he can repeat the feat in the super bantamweight division in just 154 days.
To do this, he must defeat the Filipino on Tuesday Marlon Tapales in a unification fight that will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokio. The evening will be broadcast on ESPN 2 from 5, although the main attraction will begin after 8.
Extraordinary power for his size (he knocked out 22 of his 25 opponents), surgical precision, hand speed, good footwork, variety of blows and excellent technical fundamentals have turned Inoue, at 30 years old, into a superstar in your country and in a again for specialists.
If among the uninitiated you do not have the recognition of the Mexican Saul Canelo Álvarez or the british Tyson Fury It is because it belongs to the universe of the girls categoriesalways less box-office, and because he built his notable career without needing to base it on USA or the United Kingdom (although he fought and won in both territories).
He Monsterborn in Zama and based in Yokohama, began his journey in the big leagues almost a decade ago, in April 2014when he won the light flyweight title of the World Boxing Council knocking out the Mexican Adrián Hernández. That same year he claimed the scepter of the super flyweights of the World Boxing Organizationwhich he obtained by giving the Chubut native a merciless beating Omar Narvaezwho visited the tapestry four times in less than six minutes of tortuous action.
After seven defenses, the Japanese jumped to 118 pounds and in his first experience obtained the World Boxing Association belt, which he took from the Englishman Jamie McDonnell on May 25, 2018. With patience, he swept the category, beating opponents demanding players such as the Dominican Juan Carlos Payano, the Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodríguez, the Australian Jason Moloney and the legendary Filipino Nonito Donaire (twice). He was only able to complete the unification work on December 13 of last year, when he knocked out the British Paul Butler and combined the four belts.
No longer challenges in the division gallo, climbed to 122 pounds this year to repeat the achievement. This time, the planets aligned so that the task can be much more expeditious. On July 25, Inoue dispatched the American Stephen Fulton, the best supergallo of those days, and took away the WBC and WBO titles. The two he is missing are in the hands of the man with whom he will measure forces on Tuesday.
For the left-handed Tapales, who was born in Tubod and lives in Kapatagan, but since 2019 has had his operations center in Las Vegas, this fight, his fifth on Japanese territory (he was victorious in the previous four), represents the opportunity to close a year with a flourish. dreamlike. Of course: the mission will be very complicated and this is shown by the bets, which comfortably favor his rival.
The Nightmare31 years old, was WBO bantamweight champion between July 2016 and April 2017 (he gave up the crown after not being able to make weight before his first defense against the Japanese Shohei Omori), he has a record of 37 victories (19 before of the limit) and 3 defeats, and he only suffered one setback in the last decade: he was knocked out by the Japanese Ryosuke Iwasa in December 2019 in a fight in which the interim super bantamweight title of the International Boxing Federation was at stake.
Tapales has already experienced the delight of entering a ring with all odds against him and finishing with his arm raised. On April 8 of this year at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio (Texas), the Filipino gave one of the hits of the year: he took over the WBA and IBF 122-pound titles by beating on points and in a divided and discussed decision to the Uzbek Murodjon Akhmadaliev, a boxer with great amateur experience and undefeated until that night on the rented field. That victory is what opened the door for this Tuesday’s gigantic challenge.
“I know Inoue is an excellent boxer, with a high IQ, and he may be the favorite. But I trained very hard, I am in very good shape and I think I am capable of hurting him,” the Filipino was excited after landing in Japan. And he predicted that the lawsuit will not reach the maximum agreed length: “The most likely thing is that someone will fall. It will be him or me.”
Inoue, a gentleman on the rope and also below, avoided the verbal fireworks in the prelude to a commitment that, for him, could be historic. “I am more motivated than before. I have been training with the premise that I will face a versatile and expert boxer. I put myself in better condition than I was for the fight against (Stephen) Fulton. I know that Tapales wants to surprise, so I will be careful,” he said.
If the local wins, he will become the second man to unify the four belts in two divisions: the first was Terence Crawford, who did it in the super lightweight and welterweight categories (among women, Katie Taylor – lightweight and super lightweight – and Claressa Shields -middleweight and super middleweight-). On the other hand, if Tapales triumphs, he will become the first Filipino undisputed champion in the era of the four governing bodies of world boxing.