Inoue KOs Tapales, becomes undisputed super bantamweight champ

Naoya “Monster” Inoue is now the unified super bantamweight champion after knocking out Marlon Tapales in the 10th round. | Grabbed from the live video of the fight

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Naoya “Monster” Inoue is now the unified super bantamweight world champion after he defeated Filipino Marlon Tapales via a 10th round knockout during their fight at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday, December 26. 

He knocked down Tapales twice, first in the fourth round and in the 10th round. The Japanese fighter landed a powerful right straight that downed his opponent for good in the 10th round.

READ: Tapales stages public workout at Japanese champion’s boxing gym

Tapales 4th defeat

Tapales failed to stand back on his feet, with referee Celestino Ruiz reaching the count of 10 at the 1:02 mark of the 10th round. 

It was already Tapales’ fourth defeat.  He has a record of 37 wins and 19 knockouts, while Inoue remained undefeated in 26 fights with 23 knockouts. 

READ: Tapales flies to Tokyo for Inoue mega fight

Inoue knocks down Tapales in 4th

The Filipino fighters’ first knockdown came in the fourth round when he got tagged by a left hook. Inoue followed it up with a right hook. 

Tapales, the former WBA and IBF super bantamweight world champion, survived the round and battled the Japanese fighter toe-to-toe in the ensuing rounds.

READ: Naoya Inoue stops Stephen Fulton, wins world titles in his 4th weight class

Inoue too much to handle

Despite showing some fight and adjusting his defense in the ensuing rounds, the Japanese fighter was too much to handle for Tapales, with each of the rounds ending with an exclamation point. 

Inoue, a four-division world champion, is now the undisputed world super bantamweight champion, holding the WBO, WBC, IBF, and WBA titles.

READ: Naoya Inoue draws comparisons to Manny Pacquiao