Inoue becomes undisputed super-bantamweight champion with KO win over Tapales

Published 26/12/2023 at 13:54 GMT

It was another sensational victory for Naoya Inoue, who is the undisputed super-bantamweight champion following a brilliant performance against the Filipino Marlon Tapales. He now holds the WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA belts, and enhanced his reputation for the spectacular after securing a 23rd knockout victory as he continues to compile a stellar boxing career.

Japan’s WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Philippines’ WBA and IBF super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales after their four-belt world super bantamweight title unification match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on D

Image credit: Getty Images

Naoya Inoue became the undisputed super-bantamweight champion after a 10th-round knockout against Marlon Tapales at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

The 30-year-old Japanese came into Tuesday’s fight as the unified WBC and WBO champion, and has now taken the IBF and WBA belts away from the Filipino.

It was an historic night for Inoue, who holds the honour of being the first super-bantamweight champion of the four-belt era.

He also now ranks alongside Terence Crawford as the only two men to become two-weight undisputed four-belt champions.

This was also the 26th victory of the Japanese fighter’s career, with 23 of those coming by way of knockout to rank him alongside some of the sport’s pound-for-pound greats.

Inoue was progressive from the start of the fight and looked for the body shots early on against a much more tentative Tapales.

Image credit: Getty Images

In contrast, Tapales could not find a way past Inoue’s defence, but the first telling blow came after he upped the ante in round four.

He managed to test Inoue a bit more, but was sent crashing to the ground after being on the receiving end of a left hook by the Japanese.

He carried on admirably, as Tapales landed several fine shots in round five, in what was the first of a few end-to-end rounds.

However, Tapales hit the deck again in the 10th round and could not recover on this occasion after failing to beat the referee’s count.

“First of all, I would like to give a big shoutout to Marlon Tapales for taking this fight with me. Secondly, I would like to thank everyone who supported me and made this fight happen,” Inoue said afterwards in quotes published by The Independent.

“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to fight against such a tough opponent. I think super-bantamweight is my division now, so in 2024 I will look to show even greater form.

“I am so relieved at the moment to be victorious against such a strong, tough and spirited opponent.

“He never showed me fatigue or damage; I couldn’t see that from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round.”

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